us VBA
Front Row: Sally Beyer. J enny frazier. Dawn Colston. L aura Burns. T erri Plum. Kay Garland. Robin Reslock . Back Row: Emily Ross. Melinda Varns. Mana Bolt. Julie Hansen. Robin Jordan. Kesha Christensen. J oyce Sasaki. Nellie Cant. Kelley Neely. Susan Deskines.
Passing the ball to a teammate, Terri Plum begins mastering the volleyball fundamentals of...
Bump, set, spike A
nalyzln& and stud yi ng the action. Vandal and A Mamas/Mashers Head Coach Pam Bradetlch sits on the sideline and watches those playe rs who someda y may wear the yellow and black of the Lady Vandal volleyball team.
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Volleyball Club
hhh, spring. A young person's fancies turn to thou ghts of love and bright flowers. of le m onade and cool evening breezes, of front porch swings a n d volleyball. Volleyball? Yes, volleyball. But not your normal front yard , let's-get· the-neighbors-and-have-at-it type game. No, the type of spring volleyball fou nd at this university was sanctioned by the United States Volleyball Association , involved hours of practice and included many of the same in dividuals wh o comprised the women's fall volleyball team. The type of volleyball played at the UI could be described in three words, " Mash ers and Mamas." Although many players who participated on the UI volleyball club we re be tter known as m e mbe rs of the fall Lady Va ndal volleyball team , the spring club season was us·
ed by Vandal Volleyball Head Coach Pam Bradetich to allow players to work on skills bas ic to the sport. " Our ofT-season is an oppor· tunity for u s to practice together and work on in· dividual s kills." Bradetich said. "It gives us the opportunity for kids that didn 't play this fall to develop a new identity." And th e identity the players developed was one of eithe r a Masher or a Mama. The volleyball club was in essence two clubs: one com· posed of prese nt Vandal players (Mashers) and another made up of former UI stars (Mamas). Together under the aus pices of t h e USVBA. m embers of the two club teams practiced and played th e gam e they loved. "We never worked this hard during the regular season," said forme r Vandal turned assistan t coach Joyce Sasaki. " These guys are working so
hard and they're not getting burned out." Freshman hitter Terri Plum echoed Sasaki's comme nt. " I work twice as hard during the s pring." she said. Eve n Brade tich admitted it was the love of the game that drove h e r Mash ers and Mamas forward. " It's the end of March and they're still enthusiastic," the two-year h ead coach said. "They have a love for the gam e a nd a desire to excel. It's showing." In four spring tournaments e ntered by the Mashers and Mamas, the UI s quads never failed to finish lowe r than fourth place. And the experience gained by the club members in the s pring hopefully carried over to the Vandal team in the fall. "If they can improve one aspect of their gam e. I'll be h appy." Bradetich said. " And hopefully it will all com e together to help the team. "