MOBILE, Ala. – Coming off the team's fifth-straight SIAC championship and NCAA tournament appearance, Spring Hill College volleyball head coach Peggy Martin previewed her 15^th season at the helm of the program.
 
What are some of the things to look forward to this season?
"It's going to be a really different year. The nature of the comings and goings happening have really affected the consistency of what you're going to put on the court year-to-year, because people are coming and going like never before. I think the challenge for us this year is to have 12 newcomers blend with 12 returners. We've taken a different approach compared to last year because, we knew these kinds of things could happen, we are playing what I like to call 'total volleyball' – everybody knows everybody else's position and we're playing out of position. It worked for us last year and it's a good thing we did it, because we had so many injuries. I think it's going to be a real challenge to get this team to blend."
 
What is the takeaway from last season?
"Well, I think you have to give the credit to the kids because, we have the target on our backs and our kids step up. We had so many injuries last year. You know, in a conference championship, we lose our best player. Being down a set to Edward Waters and somebody else stepped up and we got the job done. The volleyball continues to get better and better in that SIAC. Now, I'm sure they're having the same issues I'm having with losing some kids they didn't expect to lose and knowing what your competition is going to be. Just like you don't know what your team is going to be like, you certainly don't know what the competition is going to be like.  So, I think this year will be really interesting."
 
What effect does losing players like Mikayla Boyer and Jessica Fairly have?
"Well, I think Mikayla has been a mainstay of this program for five years and not only her ability as a volleyball player, but her personality really was a pleasure to be around and kids responded to her in such a positive way. We'll never replace Mikayla, you know, we've all got to do a little bit more of giving a part of ourselves to the game and to the team in order to replace her. We are going to be starting freshman setters, so our ball control has to be extremely good. Our hitters have to adjust to a new quarterback out there. Who that quarterback is going to be competitive and it's going to be a fun, although short, preseason."
 
What do the newcomers bring to the table as a whole?
"Well, you know, you never know till you see them and you never know till we get them on the court. I think there's a lot of volleyball ability and it's going to be how young people adjust to the quickness of our game. It's a very fast game at the college level. I think some of these kids are going to have to adjust to playing a position and a role that they haven't played before. All of them come off of teams where they were the best player or one of the best players and now they're not going to be in that role to start out with. So, I think the adjustment is difficult going from high school to the college game and especially with so many of them. We're going to make them uncomfortable from the beginning by asking them to play different positions from what they're used to until we can find the best position for them as well as what our needs of our team are going to be. So again, it's going to be a challenging preseason."
 
Who is starting to step up in the leadership role on the team?
"I don't really expect to have one person. I really think that our upperclassmen will do a very good job. Cassidy Granger is a great teammate and has been with the program for four years. I think she will be a role model for young kids. I'm hoping that Airyonna Weaver will step up and be a leader as well as one of our best players. Of course, we're very blessed to have Brooke [Borgmeyer] back. In her fifth year, Brooke will carry a lot of the responsibility for being the senior that everyone looks up to. So, I think the junior class is a strong class also in terms of leadership, especially Jaylyne Bell, but we're going to need some young people to be leaders too. You don't have to be a junior or senior. So hopefully everybody will step up and be held accountable for doing a little bit of what those very great leaders in the past did."
 
What are some of the team goals this season?
"I think a short-term goal is to come out of the blocks ready to play. We have a very short window to get ready and unlike other conferences and schools, the strength of our schedule is in the beginning. So, when you have twelve new people, we're going to ask these kids to grow up very quickly. As I look at our first two weeks, I'm predicting that seven out of eight teams we play are going to be top-ranked teams in the country. So, we're going to hit some really tough competition very, very early. I think a short-term goal is to get this act going quickly. I think a long-term goal every year, of course, is to win the conference and make the regional. I don't think that is out of our reach, but I do think a lot of things are going to have to happen. We're going to have to stay healthy, we're going to have to perform at a high level, we're going to have to have oldies helping youngies. It's going to be a work in progress all year."
 
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