Michigan State University Athletics
Digging In: Takeaways from Spring Volleyball
5/3/2023 11:00:00 AM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Since the last installment of 'Digging In' the Michigan State volleyball program wrapped up its spring scrimmage season, playing a total of four weekends and facing off against plenty of tough regional competition. Michigan, Indiana, Bowling Green and Ball State were just a few of the in-region opponents that the Spartans challenged themselves against during the spring.
While we're not going to dive deep into results and numbers from those matches, Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson sat down to discuss her three biggest takeaways (and some additional tidbits) from the spring slate to provide insight into what improvements the team has made since the 2022 season concluded in November.
1. Significant Gains in the Weight Room
Through working with associate director of athletic performance Casey Akenberger and director of sports science Dr. Bill Burghardt, the Michigan State volleyball program made significant gains on the strength and conditioning side this spring.
"Most of our student-athletes made tremendous gains physically," Johnson said. "We saw verticals increase, body compositions improve and improvements in our overall well-being."
For a bulk of the MSU squad this was their first full off-season to train their whole game as well as their physical fitness. Six Spartans were freshmen last season, so they didn't join the team until the summer and two are early enrollee freshmen who got their first taste of the collegiate volleyball experience this spring. Michigan State's seven upperclassmen had their previous springs impacted by either COVID-19, a forthcoming transfer to MSU or Michigan State's small spring roster in 2022.
2. Changing Our Mindset
In addition to their gains in the weight room, Michigan State volleyball's student-athletes also made the most of their meetings with director of student-athlete wellness Dr. Molly McQueary. The program met with Dr. McQueary weekly throughout the spring to learn more about what it means to have a high-performance mentality.
Dr. McQueary helped the Spartans learn about and practice the application of key skills within a high-performance mindset. Those skills included self-talk re-framing, focus and calmness. All skills that will allow the Spartans to reach their highest potential next season. Self-talk is your inner voice, representing the way you talk to yourself on and off the court. Dr. McQueary also aided the Spartans in developing their own team-specific definition of high performance.
3. Tempo, Tempo, Tempo
One of Michigan State's goals this spring was to work on speeding up its offense and the results showed that decision to be effective. During the spring, Michigan State's attackers hit for a more efficient clip than last season and the Spartans saw their kills per set and out-of-system game improve over the course of 10 spring scrimmages.
"We feel like now we are poised to score more of our own points and have the ability to take control of the match better," Johnson said.
Serve, grow, honor are the three core values of the Michigan State volleyball program, and the Spartans did a lot of growing this spring. It's one thing to work on a higher pace/tempo in practice and it's another thing to apply it in a match and feel the rewards of it.
"I think that first weekend at Ball State there was some hesitancy with trusting it, and as we went through each weekend, we felt more and more confident," Johnson said. "We felt like it was a competitive advantage we had in the spring, so that was a significant growth area for us."
GROWTH IN OTHER AREAS
Over four weeks Johnson also saw improvements in the Spartans passing, defense and competitive spirit. There wasn't as heavy of a focus on passing and defense in the spring but working on those areas came naturally to MSU when having to face opponents they hadn't seen before and weren't used to.
Johnson felt that an improvement in the team's competitive spirit led to more competitive moments in their spring matches.
"Our depth chart is pretty strong, and players who didn't see as much playing time in the fall made significant gains," Johnson said. "The parity in our gym during the spring was pretty elite and created some really exciting moments when preparing for our scrimmages."
GOAL SETTING
At the end of the spring Johnson sat down with every member of the Spartan volleyball team to reflect on their performance and set goals for the summer. It served as an opportunity for Johnson to help her team celebrate their growth.
"It was pretty cool to reflect on the spring in our individual meetings because a lot of the players didn't even realize the extent that they improved and where their gains were at until we sat down together," Johnson said. "That was a great sign to me because it meant that they stayed in the moment all spring and weren't looking too far ahead."
Johnson challenges her student-athletes to set volleyball related growth goals for the summer. The Spartans don't want to lose any of the progress they've made as a team once players find themselves home for the summer.
"We discussed what days of the week they're going to the gym, what they're going to train, where they're going to train, who they're going to train with, what their skills, packages and skill sequences are going to look like on their own and how they plan to train those things if they don't have someone to train with," Johnson said. "We got really specific about the way we set ourselves up to succeed when they go out on their own. I think this is a critical link of success for the fall."
It can be difficult for student-athletes to go from a structured environment to an environment where you must rely on yourself. Johnson sees the players taking ownership of that as a critical step now that the coaching staff has taken a step back.
"Our captains are running preparation sessions during the voluntary workout segment on their own, making sure everyone leaves campus with a clear plan so that when they step into their home space, they're ready to continue the progress they've made," Johnson said.
COACHES BUILDING BONDS
With spring practice in the rearview mirror, Michigan State's volleyball staff will have plenty of time to build relationships with one another before students arrive back on campus for summer classes and fall camp. The Spartans added assistant coach Zheng Xiang, formerly of Rice University, in January and the staff hit the ground running with spring practice.
The NCAA voted in January to allow an additional countable coach to the volleyball staff starting in July. This makes it possible for the Spartans to potentially add another full-time assistant coach for next season. MSU hasn't shied away from expanding its staff in the past, adding technical coordinator Shea Decker-Jacoby and brand ambassador Brittney Kimball to the Jenison Field House office suite last season. The additions of Decker-Jacoby and Kimball's positions last season showed Michigan State's continued commitment to investing additional resources towards the up-and-coming volleyball program.
"I am excited to spend time with my staff building our relationship this summer," Johnson said. "We have already started mapping out the fall and are talking about key areas we need to address out of the gate to be prepared for opening weekend in August."
The summer also brings with it an opportunity for the coaching staff to secure future Spartans with the 2025 recruiting period opening on June 15.
ICYMI
In case you missed it, last week graduate setter Zoe Nunez signed to play professional volleyball overseas in Austria, signing with Oberbank Steel Volleys Linz-Steg. In 2022-23, Linz-Steg won the Austrian Cup following a 3-0 victory over TI-ROWA-Moser-Volley. Nunez was a steady presence throughout the 2022 season for MSU, leading the team in assists with 791 and finishing her collegiate career with over 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs.
In case you missed it, Michigan State volleyball announced that starting in 2023, the previously named Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational will be renamed as the Kathy DeBoer Spartan Invitational presented by Auto-Owners Insurance. DeBoer, a 1978 graduate from Michigan State, was inducted in the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022 and recently announced her plan to retire as Executive Director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Dates and opponents for the invitational will be announced at a later date.
Read Previous Installments of Digging In
Jan. 27, 2023 – Spartan Volleyball Opens Off-Season Training
Feb. 6, 2023 – Spartan Volleyball Celebrates National Girls & Women in Sports Day
Mar. 20, 2023 – Spring Scrimmages on Horizon for Spartan Volleyball
May 3, 2023 – Takeaways from Spring Volleyball
Digging In is a notebook for the Michigan State volleyball program written by assistant director of athletic communications Austin Overmann, who is entering his second season as primary contact for the team.
While we're not going to dive deep into results and numbers from those matches, Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson sat down to discuss her three biggest takeaways (and some additional tidbits) from the spring slate to provide insight into what improvements the team has made since the 2022 season concluded in November.
1. Significant Gains in the Weight Room
Through working with associate director of athletic performance Casey Akenberger and director of sports science Dr. Bill Burghardt, the Michigan State volleyball program made significant gains on the strength and conditioning side this spring.
"Most of our student-athletes made tremendous gains physically," Johnson said. "We saw verticals increase, body compositions improve and improvements in our overall well-being."
For a bulk of the MSU squad this was their first full off-season to train their whole game as well as their physical fitness. Six Spartans were freshmen last season, so they didn't join the team until the summer and two are early enrollee freshmen who got their first taste of the collegiate volleyball experience this spring. Michigan State's seven upperclassmen had their previous springs impacted by either COVID-19, a forthcoming transfer to MSU or Michigan State's small spring roster in 2022.
2. Changing Our Mindset
In addition to their gains in the weight room, Michigan State volleyball's student-athletes also made the most of their meetings with director of student-athlete wellness Dr. Molly McQueary. The program met with Dr. McQueary weekly throughout the spring to learn more about what it means to have a high-performance mentality.
Dr. McQueary helped the Spartans learn about and practice the application of key skills within a high-performance mindset. Those skills included self-talk re-framing, focus and calmness. All skills that will allow the Spartans to reach their highest potential next season. Self-talk is your inner voice, representing the way you talk to yourself on and off the court. Dr. McQueary also aided the Spartans in developing their own team-specific definition of high performance.
3. Tempo, Tempo, Tempo
One of Michigan State's goals this spring was to work on speeding up its offense and the results showed that decision to be effective. During the spring, Michigan State's attackers hit for a more efficient clip than last season and the Spartans saw their kills per set and out-of-system game improve over the course of 10 spring scrimmages.
"We feel like now we are poised to score more of our own points and have the ability to take control of the match better," Johnson said.
Serve, grow, honor are the three core values of the Michigan State volleyball program, and the Spartans did a lot of growing this spring. It's one thing to work on a higher pace/tempo in practice and it's another thing to apply it in a match and feel the rewards of it.
"I think that first weekend at Ball State there was some hesitancy with trusting it, and as we went through each weekend, we felt more and more confident," Johnson said. "We felt like it was a competitive advantage we had in the spring, so that was a significant growth area for us."
GROWTH IN OTHER AREAS
Over four weeks Johnson also saw improvements in the Spartans passing, defense and competitive spirit. There wasn't as heavy of a focus on passing and defense in the spring but working on those areas came naturally to MSU when having to face opponents they hadn't seen before and weren't used to.
Johnson felt that an improvement in the team's competitive spirit led to more competitive moments in their spring matches.
"Our depth chart is pretty strong, and players who didn't see as much playing time in the fall made significant gains," Johnson said. "The parity in our gym during the spring was pretty elite and created some really exciting moments when preparing for our scrimmages."
GOAL SETTING
At the end of the spring Johnson sat down with every member of the Spartan volleyball team to reflect on their performance and set goals for the summer. It served as an opportunity for Johnson to help her team celebrate their growth.
"It was pretty cool to reflect on the spring in our individual meetings because a lot of the players didn't even realize the extent that they improved and where their gains were at until we sat down together," Johnson said. "That was a great sign to me because it meant that they stayed in the moment all spring and weren't looking too far ahead."
Johnson challenges her student-athletes to set volleyball related growth goals for the summer. The Spartans don't want to lose any of the progress they've made as a team once players find themselves home for the summer.
"We discussed what days of the week they're going to the gym, what they're going to train, where they're going to train, who they're going to train with, what their skills, packages and skill sequences are going to look like on their own and how they plan to train those things if they don't have someone to train with," Johnson said. "We got really specific about the way we set ourselves up to succeed when they go out on their own. I think this is a critical link of success for the fall."
It can be difficult for student-athletes to go from a structured environment to an environment where you must rely on yourself. Johnson sees the players taking ownership of that as a critical step now that the coaching staff has taken a step back.
"Our captains are running preparation sessions during the voluntary workout segment on their own, making sure everyone leaves campus with a clear plan so that when they step into their home space, they're ready to continue the progress they've made," Johnson said.
Spring Growth ✅
— Michigan State Volleyball (@MSU_Volleyball) April 28, 2023
The standard has been raised, and we will continue to put in the effort and get better every day#GoGreen | #ServeGrowHonor pic.twitter.com/ajNLcmOGDi
COACHES BUILDING BONDS
With spring practice in the rearview mirror, Michigan State's volleyball staff will have plenty of time to build relationships with one another before students arrive back on campus for summer classes and fall camp. The Spartans added assistant coach Zheng Xiang, formerly of Rice University, in January and the staff hit the ground running with spring practice.
The NCAA voted in January to allow an additional countable coach to the volleyball staff starting in July. This makes it possible for the Spartans to potentially add another full-time assistant coach for next season. MSU hasn't shied away from expanding its staff in the past, adding technical coordinator Shea Decker-Jacoby and brand ambassador Brittney Kimball to the Jenison Field House office suite last season. The additions of Decker-Jacoby and Kimball's positions last season showed Michigan State's continued commitment to investing additional resources towards the up-and-coming volleyball program.
"I am excited to spend time with my staff building our relationship this summer," Johnson said. "We have already started mapping out the fall and are talking about key areas we need to address out of the gate to be prepared for opening weekend in August."
The summer also brings with it an opportunity for the coaching staff to secure future Spartans with the 2025 recruiting period opening on June 15.
ICYMI
In case you missed it, last week graduate setter Zoe Nunez signed to play professional volleyball overseas in Austria, signing with Oberbank Steel Volleys Linz-Steg. In 2022-23, Linz-Steg won the Austrian Cup following a 3-0 victory over TI-ROWA-Moser-Volley. Nunez was a steady presence throughout the 2022 season for MSU, leading the team in assists with 791 and finishing her collegiate career with over 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs.
🚨Zoe's going pro!🚨
— Michigan State Volleyball (@MSU_Volleyball) April 29, 2023
She will be heading overseas to start her professional volleyball career with Oberbank Steel Volleys Linz-Steg.
Congratulations Zoe we cannot wait to watch you crush it 💚#GoGreen | #SpartansInThePros pic.twitter.com/KHfQ6bHw4j
In case you missed it, Michigan State volleyball announced that starting in 2023, the previously named Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational will be renamed as the Kathy DeBoer Spartan Invitational presented by Auto-Owners Insurance. DeBoer, a 1978 graduate from Michigan State, was inducted in the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022 and recently announced her plan to retire as Executive Director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Dates and opponents for the invitational will be announced at a later date.
Read Previous Installments of Digging In
Jan. 27, 2023 – Spartan Volleyball Opens Off-Season Training
Feb. 6, 2023 – Spartan Volleyball Celebrates National Girls & Women in Sports Day
Mar. 20, 2023 – Spring Scrimmages on Horizon for Spartan Volleyball
May 3, 2023 – Takeaways from Spring Volleyball
Digging In is a notebook for the Michigan State volleyball program written by assistant director of athletic communications Austin Overmann, who is entering his second season as primary contact for the team.
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