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(09/25/14 3:31pm)
Highlights for the Elon University women's basketball team in 2014/2015 include opening Colonial Athletic Association play Jan. 4 at the University of Delaware and hosting 2014 NCAA Tournament participant Vanderbilt University Dec. 14.
(09/25/14 3:46am)
When searching for a substitution, Elon University head volleyball coach Mary Tendler hasn’t been left with many options as of late.
Elon has had six players miss time because of injuries in the last two weeks, depleting an already small roster into one with little leeway for variety.
The Phoenix has 13 players listed on its roster, which is small for a Division I school. Most teams have at least 15 players.
In its last two games at the Deacon Classic Sept. 20 in Winston-Salem, Elon used an eight-player lineup. Against North Carolina Central University Sept. 23, Elon used a seven-player lineup.
“If we’re struggling at something, we look down the bench, and we don’t have that person that has experience to come out and help in certain things,” Tendler said. “I like the players we have in. We have nine players healthy, and I’m proud of them for their effort.”
The injuries have left the Phoenix especially short at setter, as both junior Ana Nicksic and redshirt freshman Sydel Curry have missed the last five games. This meant junior Chelsea Rafetto, formerly a defensive specialist, had to step in and play setter.
Rafetto sat out last year because of a knee injury. She started at Elon as a setter but was transitioned into a defense role. Before Elon’s Sept. 17 game against North Carolina A&T State University, the last time Rafetto played setter was in November 2012.
Through four matches in which she’s played every point at setter, Rafetto has accumulated 103 assists and 47 digs.
“[The injuries] put a lot more pressure on Chelsea,” said senior outside hitter Chanelle Smith. “We’re still getting used to her style of setting. She’s doing a great job. It takes confidence to have to come out there and run an offense.”
MORE: Morgan Maner experimenting with different serve
Junior outside hitter Megan Gravley has missed the last six games because of a foot injury that required her to wear a boot until this past weekend. Senior outside hitter Danielle Smith didn’t play in the three matches at the Deacon Classic, and she nor Curry traveled with the team for the tournament’s first game against Western Carolina University.
Junior middle blocker Catherine Head also missed three matches after slightly aggravating a previous knee injury but was back in the lineup this past weekend before missing Tuesday's game at North Carolina Central. Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Agae did not play in that game either and had a brace on her left wrist.
Tendler has been forced to shuffle the lineup in order to fill the void of those players who can’t play. The short lineup has emphasized the need for Elon to start sets off strong, something that’s been a point of focus in practice recently.
“With this new lineup, we don’t have time to play catch-up,” Chanelle Smith said. “It’s a whole new lineup, whole new offense. We have to be coming out with the same energy and fire.”
Sometimes, going down a few points early has helped the Phoenix.
“We actually play really well when we’re in a hole,” Tendler said. “We really pick things up. Sometimes the intensity picks up when you’re behind. Right now, our team plays better when we’re behind than they do from being ahead.”
Regardless of who’s playing and who’s not, the goal is the same. It’s something Elon’s worked through during the past couple weeks and will have to deal with for at least the next few matches.
“It adds a little bit more pressure,” Agae said on Sept. 19. “We’re bummed we can’t have those girls on the court with us too, but we trust whoever’s on with us or without us that they’re going to make it happen.”
(09/24/14 3:07am)
DURHAM — The few players Elon University had were able to gel together as a lineup when it mattered most.
(09/22/14 7:28pm)
The 5-foot-7 libero stands a few feet behind the service line and tosses the ball seemingly a mile up into space. Then, she jumps in the air, powers through the ball with her arm fully extended and sends the ball to the opposite side of the net, falling in for another ace.
(09/21/14 4:34am)
Using a weakened nine-player lineup thanks to a slew of injuries, the Elon University volleyball team concluded its weekend on Sept. 20 at the Deacon Classic in Winston-Salem, falling to Winthrop University 3-0 (20-25, 14-25, 19-25) and Wake Forest University 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 14-25, 18-25).
(09/20/14 4:06am)
WINSTON-SALEM — Facing a familiar opponent, albeit in a different setting, the Elon University volleyball team knew what to prepare for.
(09/18/14 2:24pm)
One for eight.
(09/18/14 1:53am)
It was an unfamiliar setting for Chelsea Rafetto, despite playing at home in Alumni Gym.
(09/17/14 4:04am)
When Kayla Agae played in just one set in Elon University volleyball’s season opener and none in the team’s second game, she wasn’t frazzled.
She didn’t look down on herself. She wasn’t frustrated. She wasn’t angry.
Instead, she accepted what was handed to her. She looked around and saw the strengths of the team and took on her role of supporter for the first weekend of the season.
“As a team, we’re so dynamic,” Agae said. “We can put anyone on the court and win. Those six that were on the court that first week were going to do that. I was going to be a teammate.”
Now, Agae is the furthest thing from someone who supports her teammates from the bench. Agae has played the entirety of Elon’s last few games, including some five-set matches. The sophomore outside hitter gives Elon a dependable presence in multiple spots on the court.
In Elon’s last five games, Agae has hammered down 64 kills, dug 70 balls and posted eight blocks.
“Kayla’s killing it,” said junior outside hitter Megan Gravley. “We can trust her so much on the court. The fact she can play back row then go front row and just kill it is really, really awesome. It’s hard to find that in a player.”
Agae, from Las Vegas, played in all 33 matches for Elon a year ago, so it’s odd that she barely saw the court in the first two games of this season. Through five games this season, Agae had managed just 16 kills while playing nine sets.
She quickly stepped to another level Sept. 6 against the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Agae recorded a career-high 15 kills while hitting .265.
It didn’t take long for her to shatter that high kill total — she posted 19 while hitting .444 Sept. 12 against the University of North Florida.
But it’s not just her hitting that makes her a valuable asset and keeps her on the court all matches. Agae reached a game-high 20 digs against High Point University on Sept. 10, while recording 11 against North Florida and 10 in a three-set loss to South Carolina University on Sept. 13.
Against Campbell University Sept. 13, Agae not only had 15 kills but also tallied a career-high 23 digs and was named to the All-Tournament Team of the Hampton Inn & Suites of Holly Springs Invitational.
“Kayla’s been playing awesome,” said junior setter Ana Nicksic. “She’s just very, very consistent all the way around, in her digging and swinging.”
When Elon head coach Mary Tendler was asked what she likes about Agae’s play, she answered quickly, “Consistency.” Tendler has singled out that aspect as something Elon needs to work on to improve its current 3-7 record.
And right now, Agae is providing more of it than anyone.
“That’s what we’re looking for in players — to be consistent from match to match,” Tendler said. “That takes a lot of focus. We asked her to do a lot, and she came through.”
Agae hasn’t gotten caught up in her recent hot stretch.
“Having my chance to play was awesome,” Agae said. “Overall, for the team as a whole, what we really want to do is be successful. No matter who’s on the court, we want to be successful. No matter if I’m on or whoever’s on.”
(09/16/14 9:01pm)
Danielle Smith doesn’t let her size bother her while playing middle blocker.
The Elon University senior stands at 5 feet, 9 inches tall, but she remains effective going up against players who are typically 6 feet tall or bigger.
“I’m used to being the small one in the middle,” Smith said. “I’m quick, which helps me against blockers who are taller than me.”
Smith’s attack in the middle helped power Elon’s five-set victory against High Point University Sept. 10, when she recorded eight kills at an .333 efficiency. She had a season-high 13 kills against the University of North Carolina at Asheville Sept. 6.
Smith plays multiple positions for Elon, rotating from the middle to both outside positions. She has 77 kills and 20 blocks so far the year.
“She’s one of the most versatile players I’ve ever seen in my life,” said junior outside hitter Megan Gravley. “Last week, she played outside in one set, middle in one set and right side in one set. People who can do that, I have so much respect for.”
KLEIN CLIMBING: Elon freshman middle blocker Michelle Klein is seeing the floor more after not playing at all in the team’s first three games.
In six games, Klein has amassed 28 kills while hitting .262 and 11 blocks.
“I think I’ve definitely improved a lot,” she said of the transition from high school to college. “At first, I was really timid and I couldn’t hit down to save my life. Now, I’m getting a little more used to the intensity and the pace of the college game.”
Elon head coach Mary Tendler said Klein has taken some lumps, as any freshman does, early on. But overall, she likes where Klein is headed with her improvements.
“The middle blocker position is tough because you need to do a great job of reading the ball coming off the hands of a setter,” Tendler said. “If you guess wrong or move in the wrong direction, you’re going to leave an opening for the defense. She’s a very confident player.”
LET'S PLAY FIVE: Elon has seen its fair share of five-set matches, even this early in the season. The Phoenix has played four matches — including a stretch of three straight — that went the distance.
In those four, Elon went 2-2, beating Kennesaw State University and High Point University while falling to the University of North Carolina at Asheville and the University of North Florida.
“We’re getting some good experience,” Tendler said.
INJURY UPDATE: Gravley and junior middle blocker Catherine Head have each missed games recently because of injury.
Head got hurt during Elon’s trip to Kennesaw State the weekend of Sept. 6-7. She did not play against High Point but saw action in three sets against North Florida before sitting out both Saturday games at Campbell University. Gravley wore a boot on her left foot during the second day of the Campbell tournament and didn’t see the floor.
SEEKING CONSISTENCY: If there’s one thing that’s bothering Tendler through Elon’s first 10 matches, it’s consistency.
Tendler singled that out as a definite need for improvement, particularly starting off sets on a good note.
Elon is currently 3-7 overall. After two of Elon’s three victories, the Phoenix was swept in its next contest.
“We’ll play a really great match, then the next match we struggle,” Tendler said. “The key to our team right now is starting out each set in a positive way, not making errors right off the bat. What we’re finding is we make a few errors right off the bat and we struggle coming back from that.”
(09/13/14 4:21pm)
BUIES CREEK — Mary Tendler tried to make adjustments.
(09/11/14 2:38am)
With sweat dripping off her face and a towel over her shoulder, Kayla Agae summed up the volleyball game she just played in two oh-so-accurate words.
(09/10/14 12:46am)
Chanelle Smith knows she’ll be tired come Saturday night.
But that’s what comes with the standard three-games-in-two-days tournaments that kick off the college volleyball season.
Teams typically play in tournaments for the first three or four weekends of the season prior to conference play. The tournaments usually involve one game Friday night, one Saturday morning and another on Saturday night.
Playing more games makes for a weekend jam-packed with volleyball, but the tournaments help foster a tough mindset for what ends up being a marathon of a season.
“Just playing in three games, it’s knowing that we’re going to be tired,” said Smith, a senior outside hitter for Elon University. “You have to be mentally tough, because they’re going to be close games. When you’re just physically tired, you have to have the mentality that the ball’s never going to hit the ground.”
Elon opened its year with a three-game home tournament Aug. 29-30, playing the University of Maryland, San Jose State University and Liberty University. The Phoenix spent Sept. 5-6 at the Kennesaw State Owls Invitational in Kennesaw, Georgia. Elon played Kennesaw State University, Purdue University and the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
This weekend, Elon will head to Campbell University to battle the Camels, the University of North Florida and the University of South Carolina. On Sept. 19-20, the Phoenix will be at Wake Forest University to face the Demon Deacons, Western Carolina University and Winthrop University.
Since it’s early in the season, Elon head coach Mary Tendler will use the tournaments to get prepared for the Colonial Athletic Association slate and to see which lineups work best. And the mindset is a little different than conference games, too.
“The focus more is on our side, compared to later in the season when we have two matches a week, and we’re in the conference where we put more emphasis on what the other team is doing,” Tendler said. “Right now we’re just trying to get better on our side. We’re still trying to compete, we’re still trying to win every match we play, but we’re more focused on our side at this time of the year.”
The travel aspect of the tournaments comes into play as well. For the Kennesaw State tournament, Elon traveled to Georgia on Thursday and returned after its game against UNC Asheville on Saturday night.
In all, Saturdays are long days. Elon typically has a pregame meal before its first game, plays, then rests while scouting the other teams.
“It kind of depends, but for us, we try to stay off our feet a lot of the time,” Smith said. “Right when we get done with pregame meal, we go back to the hotel and sit with our feet up. It’s a long day, I’m not going to lie.”
The tournaments provide time to be exposed to different opponents and their styles of play, experience that could come into play down the road. When Elon played seventh-ranked Purdue in Kennesaw, it was the first time in the Phoenix’s Division I era that it competed against a nationally ranked opponent.
The Boilermakers swept the Phoenix, but going up against a team with that kind of talent and watching them throughout the weekend was something Tendler said she was excited about.
“The opportunity to play against a team of that caliber, and not only play against them, but [we were] able to watch them against the other teams,” Tendler said. “It’s good for our team to develop and see that competition so no matter what happens in conference this year, we’ve probably seen it. No matter how big a player is from a CAA school, we’ve seen it already in our nonconference matches.”
Scouting the opponents is one big reason Tendler likes the tournaments.
“It’s one thing of watching them on film or having a coach tell you what a team does, but when the players sit down and take notes and get to see it for themselves, they have a whole different perspective,” Tendler said. “It’s good that they’re taking ownership and wanting to see what the other team does.”
Entering the Kennesaw State tournament, Elon was focusing on improving its offense. Tendler said she liked what the team showed in its opening weekend, especially blocking and defense, but that it needed consistency.
Elon saw sophomore outside hitter Kayla Agae step up during the weekend, tallying a career-high 15 kills in a five-set loss to UNC Asheville. She had seven kills against Purdue and eight in a five-set victory against Kennesaw State.
Offense is critical for Tendler throughout these tournaments so that there isn’t too much pressure put on the defense to score points off serves.
“It just felt like there were a lot of times Coach Mary would push that we need to put the ball down because there were a lot of long rallies, and that just makes us tired in general,” Smith said. “She was saying that we need to find a way to terminate, whether we’re going against a small block or a big block. If we have long runs like that every single game, we’re going to be drained by the third game.”
Smith said she thought the opening weekend was a good sign for the rest of the year. Elon lost a competitive four-set match to Maryland, beat San Jose State in four sets and was swept by Liberty. The season-opening match against Maryland gave the team a big spark for the weekend as a whole despite not winning.
“I feel like, out of all four years I’ve been here, that’s probably the best we’ve started off,” Smith said. “In general on the court, we had so much chemistry. Even people in the stands were saying how different our team looked on the court, just the demeanor on the court when we were up or down.”
With two more weekends of these tournaments, Elon has plenty of time to make more adjustments and learn more about itself.
That’s what Tendler likes, especially at this point in the year.
“Physically, we’re prepared for it,” she said. “Mentally, we just started the academic year so usually there’s a little less requirements for them academically. It’s a good time to have a lot of matches, but still not miss a lot of class.”
(09/09/14 6:14pm)
Elon University will play its first women's basketball game in the Colonial Athletic Association Jan. 4 at the University of Delaware, as the league announced its conference slate Tuesday afternoon.
(09/07/14 5:40am)
KENNESAW, Ga. — Unforced errors plagued the Elon University volleyball team in its final two games of the KSU Owls Invitational at Kennesaw State University.
(09/06/14 7:11am)
KENNESAW, Ga. — Overcoming a first-set loss, the Elon University volleyball team rebounded for a 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 18-25, 15-7) victory against Kennesaw State University on Friday, Sept. 5 in the team's first game of the KSU Owls Invitational.
(09/04/14 3:33pm)
In light of former associate head coach Tim Sweeney leaving last month, Elon University men's basketball coach has promoted some assistants and hired a new director of basketball operations.
(09/03/14 3:28am)
Admittedly, Sydney Busa was nervous.
(09/01/14 4:10am)
With the losses of starting libero Maggie Reichard and setter and right side Cali Estes to graduation, the Elon University volleyball team has defense on its mind entering the 2014 season.
Elon looks to sophomore defensive specialist Morgan Maner to take on a bigger role and to both setters for more focus on their defensive presence.
Maner, from Burlington, started 2013 at libero before transitioning into a defensive specialist role while Reichard took the libero spot. Maner accounted for 262 digs, or 2.2 per set.
“The libero position comes with a lot of leadership,” said head coach Mary Tendler. “Being so young, that’s something she’s working on, as far as talking to the other players on the court and telling them positions and all that kind of stuff. She’s working on her leadership skills as well.”
With Reichard gone, Maner seems like the logical choice to step in at libero. Sophomore Chelsea Rafetto and senior Chanelle Smith are competing in the back row as well. Rafetto redshirted last year and played in 19 games — mostly at setter — in 2012. Smith is also an outside hitter.
Her teammates said Maner is motivated for the challenge ahead.
“She definitely isn’t backing down,” said redshirt-freshman setter Sydel Curry. “She’s accepting the challenge that’s ahead of her. She’s super aggressive, even in her everyday life. She’ll never be down for long, if she is down at all. She’s always challenging herself and challenging us. I think she’ll have a good season.”
Elon averaged 14.1 digs per set in 2013. That ranked ninth in the Southern Conference, but the Colonial Athletic Association is a much stronger conference.
Maner is looking to improve that number in the back row, and has other things she’s working on.
“I probably need to be more vocal,” Maner said. “I’m focusing on owning my time on the court, which I think I’m doing a lot better job of this year than last year.”
Curry and junior Ana Nicksic are competing for the setter spot, and Tendler has had a special message for the two of them since spring practice.
“A lot of times, setters focus so much on setting the ball that the other parts of their game don’t get developed as quickly,” Tendler said. “Defensively, we’ve pushed both of them to be better defenders, and they have been. They’re making plays that they normally didn’t make.”
Tendler related that message back to how it makes the team succeed.
“If the ball’s coming their way and we’re getting digs, getting swings out of it, that’s a good thing,” she said. “You can’t just do one thing on the volleyball court.”
Nicksic, while tallying 818 assists last season, also had 218 digs. She’s had defense in the back of her mind for the last few years — and it’s consistently getting better.
“I’ve always had to work on defense,” Nicksic said. “For me, I definitely know it’s gotten better. It’s not something I dread. You have to have grit and just go for it. I kind of realized that more.”
As a whole, Tendler’s message has gotten through. And if it keeps progressing, defense could become a strength of the team by season’s end.
“Our defense looks really good,” Smith said. “I think that’ll be our strongest aspect of our team. We’re a lot faster, a lot more aggressive on defense.”
(08/31/14 4:02am)
The last day of its annual home tournament brought the Elon University volleyball team its first victory, but also showed some areas where it needs improvement as the season progresses.