Transcript
With us on coach's corner, KWBG, going to talk some DMACC volleyball today, bears in action this weekend, actually tomorrow. And we'll talk more about that. Kind of a strange week, and it always is after Labor Day just because of how the schedule kind of comes out. And coach, you knew after Labor Day on that Tuesday, you were going to have to head to Norfolk, Nebraska to take on Northeast. And then you'd have Iowa Lakes that would come in on Thursday, which normally during the weeks, maybe you'll have one on a Monday, and then a Wednesday, obviously. And then if you do anything on the weekend. So it was a different week. But I got to tell you, coach, six wins against one set loss this week. Not too shabby going into the weekend. Yeah, definitely not. Picking up two big conference wins is great for us. And a good start to hopefully a successful weekend as well. Definitely not more you cast for. When you come off of a Labor Day and a holiday like that, what do you do with the girls? Some of the girls go home over the weekend. Tell us kind of how you got them back into the gym and how that all kind of shook out. Yeah, that was definitely something we were nervous about. We did give them that entire weekend off. Even Labor Day, they had that off as well. It's always hit or miss. So we did have a weekend off before that. And that next day, they came in a little bit slow at practice. So we were worried about a slow start on Tuesday, just going straight to a serve and pass, and then going straight to playing in Nebraska. But they really showed up. And what the sweep was really good. So I think that was a really good reset for them. Some of them went home. Some of them just did some more outer staters, kind of spent time together. And I think they just really needed that mental reset. And see their bodies a little bit of a rest too. Well, you told me something about Tuesday night that I didn't know. And that was the first time that you had won at Northeast Nebraska. Coach, is that something that somebody has to tell you? Or is that in the back of your mind every time you head over to Norfolk? Oh, that's definitely in the back of my mind every time I head to Norfolk. Yeah, I don't know if it's about that drive or what it is. But in the past, we've just really never got off the bus mentally. So that's always been in the back of my mind. And I was really happy for our girls. They really showed up and really did the work and really did what they needed to do and did it in three. Well, Ramsay Johnson had a big night for you, Coach. I want you to tell me about her a little bit. What I see, 13 kills, I think 10 digs. Somewhere around there, she had a big night for you. Tell me about Ramsay and what she was able to do on Tuesday night. Yeah, she was huge for us. She actually had a triple double between her assists and her kills and her digs. And I think that was her second triple double this season. Yeah, she's a huge contributor for us. She's also one of our team captains and not only leads by example, but she's really a big vocal aspect on the court for us. She's really a huge force for us. And she really moves the ball around while setting for us. And she can really be an offensive threat and also a blocking threat for us, too. So she's really going to be a force and really a difference maker for us this year. Well, and I thought the big thing, too, is if Ramsay and she doesn't have a bunch of these, but if she is having one of those nights where maybe the kills aren't there. I mean, Brooklyn had seven that night. Cadence had six. I think Malia had eight as well. I mean, that's balanced, Daniel. That's what you want to do because you don't want the other team to look at a scouting report and say, OK, if we take away number seven, we're going to have a good night. I don't think there's one you can just take away from DMAC and expect to have one of those good nights. Exactly. And that's something we're really harping on this year is really having a really balanced offense and being able to spread the ball around between our pins and our middles. I think last year, we were really pin-heavy, and we wanted to make sure that our middles are involved in our offense this year. And it's really starting to come together and really making sure that we're able to run our tempo with all of our hitters. And it's really starting to come together. So we're really excited about it. Well, I know you're really excited, too, with the victory over Iowa Lakes last night. It pushes you to three and one now in the league and five and four. And one of those schedules that when you hear five and four and you go, OK, one game over 500, that's pretty good. Coach likes to schedule DMAC to play difficult competition. I'll say that about Danielle. And I know she's smiling right now because she knows she does it. So Coach, five and four overall, three and one in the conference, how are you feeling about this squad? Feeling good, yeah. Yeah, like you said, we do do some very difficult scheduling, and we like to do that to get us prepared for post-season. Some of our losses are to top 15 in the country teams. And like we said, that prepares us for where we need to be, see where we're at, and get this really prepared, especially for this weekend we're excited about, which I'm sure you were going to talk about. We're playing Johnson County, who's ranked number third, I think, in the country, in Heartland, who's number sixth. And with us being 15, really, really hungry for that to see where we're at and really hungry to get some wins. Well, I'm excited not just for the Kirkwood tournament, for who you're playing, Coach. But I appreciate the fact you play at 10.30 in the morning and 2.30 in the afternoon. You get at least a little bit of break in between 1 and 2. I hate when it's that kind of caliber competition and it's back to back. I mean, if Johnson County went five sets, maybe we don't have too much of a break. But let's be honest, Danielle, that's a pretty nice little schedule over in Cedar Rapids. It is. It really is. We'll have to thank Coach Dave for that. And we return in favor when he comes to us first. Well, you've got one more next week then. You've got Northwest Iowa. You'll head up to Sheldon for that. And actually, the next time that folks can come out and watch you guys, it's going to be a minute, Danielle. I think it's September the 23rd. It's your next home match. Correct. Yeah. So we'll be at the Kirkwood Tournament tomorrow. Then, like you said, Sheldon. And then we're going to Kansas City, Kansas. Right. We'll play some good competition there as well. But yeah, the 23rd, you can see us against Western Iowa Tech. And then we'll be hosting our DMAC invitation. And we'll be some really great top 20 teams coming for that to the 25th and the 26th. So we'll have volleyball all day so everyone can come check that out. Absolutely. Danielle, as always, thank you so much for some time. Safe travels coming up tomorrow. We'll talk to you again here in about two weeks. Thank you. You bet. Danielle Lopez again joining us. DMAC volleyball here on Coach's Corner.
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