They are friends and roommates. One makes assists, the other gets kills. Junior volleyball players Caitlin Kopmeyer and Sydney Lenhart complement each well. In this week’s edition of Charger Chatter they are sharing the spotlight and giving us the inside scoop on their young team, some fun bonding traditions, and the Gravel family.
How would you describe the team this year?
SL: Young. Young, but we are making improvements every day. So it’s made it really fun, because everyday is a new challenge for our team, every practice and every game.
CK: We have a lot to improve on, but we get better every day.
Are there a lot of new freshman this year?
CK: We have seven new freshmen, and last year we lost seven seniors. So it’s an entirely new team and new style of play. The goal is to mature as a team, but we want to win. We are going to win.
Who is the biggest rival for the volleyball team?
Both: Indianapolis.
CK: We see them in regionals a lot and also in the crossover tournament. So we have a history with them. Whenever we play them, especially for the returners, we want to beat them. I would say they are a big opponent.
SL: And always Ferris too. Last year we lost to them. We only had two losses last season. And we ended up coming back and beating them in the finals of the GLIAC tournament.
What are practices like?
CK: We practice everyday for about two and a half hours, and then three days a week we lift. Every single practice coach has typed out what we are going to do that day, and we have to get through all of it. We have to have a sense of urgency. We have to get it done. We have to get better.
What skills or positions do you think need to be developed this year?
SL: We are running a new offense. We have always run a 5-1, with one setter. Now we are running a 6-2. So we are just getting the hang of that. We have had three different people playing libero.
CK: It takes a while to get a feel for how people are going to play and how you play next to them. There are just so many people in different positions. Sometimes you have these teams that can have no skill at all, but play so well together. We need to develop that, and we are getting there. It comes with time.
How would you describe Head Coach Chris Gravel?
CK: He’s awesome. The best coach I’ve ever had, hands down.
SL: Me too. He is so strategic with what he does. He thinks through everything. He watches so much film of us practicing, and he will come up with things that most coaches never would think of in the first place.
Do you have any traditional team-bonding activities? Or other traditions on the team?
CK: The first day we came back, our coach made us go to this camp about five minutes away, and we did rock climbing, and we did tug-of-war in this pit of mud mixed with water. It was so gross. We had to play tug-of-war, and then we all had to do push-ups in it, and roll and flip over. And you just got so gross. Coach comes up with things that make you mentally tough. As weird as that is, things that make you mentally tough can translate to practice and on the court.
SL: Coach and Steph, his wife (the assistant) put so much thought in everything we do. They have us over for dinner during pre-season. Everything has an emphasis: our diet, our team-building activities. Months in advance they plan that stuff.
Do you have any pregame cheers or warm-ups?
SL: Every year someone makes the warm-up CD. It’s a big deal. Thirty minutes before the game, we all come into the middle, and it’s a very specific cheer we do.
CK: Almost like a dancing routine, I would say.
SL: We have one cheer, it’s called “funky side.” Coach’s daughter made it up. She’s 11 years old. We adopted it as part of our routine.
CK: When the other team hits in warm-up, we put on our jerseys, say a little prayer, and head back out. I guess that’s always been there.
Does the coach’s daughter come to all the games?
CK: She comes to all the games. Brooklyn, the coach’s daughter, is like our little sister. She’s cute.
SL: Coach and Steph are our mom a dad, and she’s our little sister.
Do you think you will keep volleyball in your lives after you leave Hillsdale?
SL: I will be in graduate school for six more years after this, so it will be almost impossible to stay involved, but maybe after that when I have my dental practice. My sister actually plays at Walsh, so maybe after I graduate I’ll get to watch her.
CK: And definitely for me. I can’t stay away. My little sister recently committed to come here to play volleyball. She is an outside hitter as well.