End of Season Banquets Via Email 2020 – 2022, a Trilogy

End of Season Banquets Via Email 2020 – 2022, a Trilogy

2019-20

This season is, to me, more about what we got, than what we lost when the world took a big ol' timeout.

It’s taken me a minute (okay, 4 years) to come to terms with everything and get this overdue banquet via email officially released, but hey. It was a jolt.

If we look at the 2019 / 20 season like a basketball game, we were in the 4th quarter when the area had to clear out.

We undeniably had the most Florida squad, and for sure the most personality-laden squad ever assembled at UNCW. Florida stalwarts Reagan Evans and Chrissy Augustine and Lexie Hamilton are all amazing and unique personalities and players, yet they have to compete for the spotlight with newcomers Sabrina Reznik and Serah O’Keefe. And that’s just our Florida contingent.

In addition to the quirkiest squad ever assembled, we had Gina Kirstein and all her wisdom helping us out in practice and in the box. We got Julie.

Under the leadership of senior Raquel “Rocky” Rooney (our first ever beach-only freshman, and everyone’s dream partner) and the best beginner we’ve ever had in grad student Casey Goodwin, we trained all fall the way we always have. But the conversations have never been as lively. With Junior JM Lewandowski and sophomore Kristy Witte keeping us on task and always asking the right questions, the fun / smart / silliness of a Rachel Schaffer and a Tyla Cutrie is hard to explain.

Chrissy Augustine and Sabrina Reznik and Serah O’Keefe could hold down reality shows individually. But I digress.

Did Adam Fearing take us to Rally (past Atlanta) for our fall competition date again? We could not have a boring practice with Sabrina’s life observations and Serah’s ahead-of-the-curve innovations. It’s unproven whether the Swedish jump-set duo headed for the Olympics studied their fundamentals from Serah. She’s been jump-setting before they entered high school.

We got 9 duals in. We went to Coastal and split, 3-2 and 2-3. We beat Chattanooga and Mercer at Mercer, and we dropped a close one to Palm Beach Atlantic. We went to UNF and picked up a couple sets here and there but they still took us 5-0. And Florida State didn't ease up against us. I sincerely think that was FSU's year to break the LA schools' hold on the national title. They had multiple jump servers who just don't care.

We went to Tampa and lost a heart-breaker to the host, before beating Tusculum. But we had so much of the season ahead of us, including a spring break trip all the way down to Boca.

Well before spring break, Lexie’s parents coordinated an amazing week of training and bonding activities for our spring break. We had access to a nearby church with plenty of courts. Assistant Coach Gina constantly guided us through the fall and the spring, and we had some talks about defense. And let the record reflect that we executed our spring break plan to a T.

We had team meals prepared by class, coordinated morning runs to the grocery story, and panels of judges determining who made the best meals. We had puzzles and solitaire for the introverts, piano and a pool and participatory games for the extroverts. We got the best parts of the trip in, and we had a confirmed dual and day of training at FAU, even though events were shutting down across the country.

Then word came in. We were ahead of schedule, checking out a well-reviewed used book store. I got a phone call, and we called a team meeting on the sidewalk out front. The competitive season and in-person classes were ended. The world would take a timeout to process the unknown.

Um, how to proceed?

Being as safe as we could, we found a movie theater that night that would open its doors just for us, and half the squad saw the picture of the year, Parasite. (It's not about a disease, which would have been a little too on-the-nose). Somehow, a handful of the players had other plans and stayed in the hotel... 

The following day, as UNCW was sending down a bus and we were talking with multiple airlines, we decided to practice on FAU's courts, in spite of everything. And I'll never forget that practice. With just ourselves, we played an intra-squad scrimmage, and I've rarely seen such focused, intense, cathartic, fun, and competitive volleyball. 

John Wooden says that things work out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out. We took control of the day, and even managed to grab one of the last domestic flights back home to Wilmington. Some players had parents pick them up from Florida, since we were already there. 

Although we missed out on about the six key weeks of the season, I choose to remember that we got in the fall training, a chance to compete before spring break, and a timeout to take a step back and evaluate how to get through the tough times.

2020-21: The Universe Strikes Back

In the fall of '20, we learned about an app called Zoom, which somehow made people forget that Skype had existed for years before the pandemic. With beaches and gyms and parks closed, it was heaven for the family dogs, with company all the time. Empty bike racks everywhere became normal. It was hard to buy a comfy pair of sweats, and we learned how to create and navigate an ever-changing set of protocols to get some education and training in. It was a challenge, with lots of long, slow time in-between everything. Gardens thrived and family dinners found a resurgence. 

With attestations, swabs, and me somehow acquiring a trigger-activated thermometer to detect fevers, we returned to campus in the spring (athletes only). For the record, measuring forehead temps is a tricky skill in the outdoors, where glistening skin registers a frighteningly low body temp. Everybody was learning. Because the indoor volleyball season was postponed, we would compete with both sports in the spring -- a tricky trick for us since Katie Lanz, and Brooke Hanshumaker played important roles on both squads. 

With only Ashley Thompson (Smash) crossing over from indoor, the beach-onlies were leaned on like never before. And challenges still presented themselves. Due to ever-evolving protocols, JM Lewandowski and Elena Turnbull weren't able to travel with us that first important weekend in Jacksonville. With 8 players, we decided to still compete, but without a couple of our most steady performers. Despite some valiant performances, we couldn't overcome Charleston, Mercer, or the host UNF. 

Amazingly, we got the rest of the squad back for the regular season, and were joined by Katie and Brooke for the CCSA playoffs against Tulane and Florida State.

With all the weirdness of Covid and both seasons happening at the same time, we still got to travel and compete. At our home tournament at the end of the season, Sabrina Reznik caught fire, jumpserving and blocking her nemeses into submission. Bagel (Bayla Cutrie) got her numbers right and calmed the happy feet and balled out. Elena Turnbull became the poster child of defensive patience and ball control, which accompanied her aggressive jump-serving perfectly.

Rachel Schaffer, with a shoulder hanging on by a thread, was a blur on defense, and maybe our best passer. Chrissy and Kristy played like an old married couple, with two tweeners who could block and defend.

Can we take a minute to imagine what 2020 and '21 would have been without the presence of grad student Casey Goodwin? New to the beach game, she was the role model we didn't know we needed. How to learn. She also showed us all how to block, with elbows properly over the net. How to be calm and genuine and helpful in the stress of competition during a worldwide pandemic. And she worked her way up to a match win over South Carolina with our talented Sadie Sharkey defending. 

Freshman Maya Duggan either learned, or already knew how to pull off the net and dig the most impossible of shots with whichever arm was handy, and how to see where the defense was without looking. And Reagan Evans consistently was one of our strongest and quickest defenders, with a healthy shoulder and willingness to skyball when called upon. 

As with any season, if you zoom in close enough, there are going to be some conflict to resolve, and this year was no exception. If I had a time machine, I'd go back and try different ways to manage conflicts -- I'm a work in progress too and this season taught me a great deal about team dynamics. I still don't have all the answers, but I'll hopefully be quicker to act.

While everyone on this team is dynamic and amazing to work with, we need to focus a moment on JM. As a beach volleyballer, she's passionate and has those smooth deep-dish hands, and she can flat out pass a ball and sideout. But, cliche as it is to say, her passion for life goes beyond this team. She became a leader of the SAAC. She fought internal battles to help bring beach courts onto campus and took some bruises in the process. She dove into her pre-med classes and even earned a special parking spot at Capt'n Bill's as a referee of the month :)

In turbulent times and facing strong competition (remember, we were still in the CCSA, and we drew Tulane and FSU in the tournament), I am reminded of the mood our team was usually in as I pulled up to practice at Bill's, or behind Wag in the fall. Getting to train and lift and travel with this high-achieving and caring bunch helps remind me that in challenging times, it's important to lean in on appreciating those people around us. And to remember that love is granting the benefit of the doubt. 

2021-'22  The Return of the Seahawks

New People: hello :

New Conference: Hello Sun Belt!