ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — A new season begins now for Griffon Volleyball, as new Head Coach
Jessica Fey looks to sculpt a new era after the program's first coaching change in nine years.
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Once Marian Carbin retired from Missouri Western last November after leading the team from 2013-21, the Griffons found their new leader in just two months with Fey's hiring. The new coach and her team have meshed together for the last nine months, working towards Friday and Saturday's season opener at the Rockhurst Classic in Kansas City, Missouri. With Griffon greats like
Ali Tauchen and Carbin moving on of from the squad, Missouri Western still brings back 10 returners to a 17-woman roster.
Even after taking over for a program that was heavily recruited by its predecessor, Fey's team took to her quickly.
"Asking them to buy in never really happened," Fey said. "It was more of, 'This is what we're going to do, this is what we're going to be.' And fortunately, they all were on board with that already. They were all excited for that -- that change. I didn't necessarily have to ask them to buy in, they were just ready."
It's not like Fey is going in completely alone as far as getting the team to trust its coaching staff.
Izzy Enna is back for her second season with MWSU after finishing a four-year career at Iowa State. Missouri Western recently promoted Enna from graduate assistant to assistant coach to help bolster the staff's youthful energy.
Fey says winning over her student-athletes itself is a small accomplishment due to their similar mindsets, but building a strong reputation with St. Joe's fans is a key goal.
"We have to build and grow and lay this great foundation for the future," Fey said. "So, being part of the process, not from just a playing perspective but also from a fan base perspective, too. I think there's a lot of loyal fans in St. Joe. And I think that it is important for them to watch games and to come see what we're all about -- to come see this new era and see us in action."
BACK IN THE BLACK & GOLD
Key players who backed Fey from day one includes junior
Karly Tharp, whose 224 kills and 2.41 kills per set in 2021 leads all Griffon returners. All-MIAA Honorable Mention
Danielle Moje brings 162 kills from her sophomore season and is looked at as one of the team's offensive leaders.
On the defensive side, fellow junior
Jessica Sachen is back after tallying a team-high 538 digs. Sophomore
Hailey Crane collected 351 of her own digs and will also have a key role once again after a solid freshman season.
While MWSU is loaded with experience, the team did go 14-16, just its second losing season since 2012. Fey's head-coach experience began at Western Colorado in 2018, a team that saw single-digit win seasons in its previous three-out-four seasons. Fey led the Mountaineers back to credibility with back-to-back RMAC Tournament appearance in 2019 and 2020 after a five-year absence.
Since she's already taken over for a team with a losing legacy in Gunnison, Colorado, Fey believes this team and her coaching ability can shine in St. Joseph.
"I feel much more confident this time around," Fey said. "I feel like I succeeded and failed in those four years that I was out there and kind of pick the best path that works for me and works in different situations. I just saw a lot of personal growth from being a first-time head coach, and now that I'm not first-time head coach anymore, hopefully I can avoid some of those first-time errors that I may have made."
FIRST COMPETITION AT THE ROCKHURST CLASSIC
Fey's Griffons first piece of action comes this weekend with two games on Friday and Saturday. Missouri Western starts Friday bright and early at 10 a.m. vs. Minnesota State-Mankato and follows up with Black Hills State at 4 p.m. Saturday's slate includes a noon match vs. Hillsdale College and a 6 p.m. collision with Rockhurst.
As a team entering a new season with a mix of experienced and new, Fey and Enna can see anyone being a playmaker and earning their place in the starting rotation.
"We're just still establishing our identity," Fey said. "That's the part that we're still establishing as a coaching staff. We're working through lineup situations and who we're going to see and who's going to be on that lineup sheet that first weekend."
Even a week out before the tourney, Fey was still evaluating who her starters are.
I'd be lying if I had an answer for you right now on who's starting," Fey said a week ago. "I think that that's a good thing. I think that means that we have depth and that we have options, and that they're making it competitive in practice. We'll see who wants to be out there, but we do have a lot of experienced players as well that we're going to see."
STAY GOLD - STAY PRESENT
Even though Fey is a former Washburn volleyball student-athlete, she's staying focused on what's ahead of her now before she makes her return to MIAA play for the first time when the Griffons take on 2021's top two teams in the conference.
"We don't have an easy preseason by any means," Fey said. "We're playing some tough teams, which I think is great for us because we're going to get to compete at a high level early while getting ready for conference play. I think everyone knows that this is a highly-competitive conference. We open conference play at Northwest and vs. Central Missouri. It's not like we have a cakewalk our first weekend in the conference"
All-in-all, one of Fey's main goals this weekend is for her team to follow the season motto and stay in the present, paving the way to potential success one match at a time.
"in the spring, we established that we have seen folks on the present, that we need to be where our feet are," Fey said. We can't do anything about the past. Whatever the mindset was, whatever the mentality was, it can't it can't be that anymore. It's all about being present. We can't look too far in the future or really at all. We have to focus what's in front of us."
