Six first-place votes in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll, released Aug. 7, has the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team as the favorites to win the Big West Conference title in 2006.
“If you win the conference you get an automatic bid in the [NCAA] tournament and even though it’s nice, it’s only a step,” said head coach Brian Gimmillaro.
Not buying the hype, Gimmillaro remains focused on implementing new strategies that will keep his squad healthy. Over the past three years, Gimmillaro has had such an injury-prone team that he’s made health his No. 1 priority in the off-season.
“If the team is healthy and puts the time in practice and in the games then we will be pretty good this season,” said Gimmillaro, who believes his squad’s potential is overshadowed by injuries. “Last season alone we had seven to eight players that either had or needed surgery, which was a real challenge.”
Injuries are nothing new to Gimmillaro’s squad, but the reoccurring problem has resulted in a slight change in practice, at least for now.
Practices are shorter and include a deeper concentration on finesse while managing to keep Gimmillaro’s long-established, high-intensity training scheme in place.
“It’s all due to injury. So in that case, you have to make your time more meaningful because we are cutting down time. You have to be creative and increase efficiency in order to get to the same spot in less amount of time,” Gimmillaro said. “The challenge then comes when you have to teach the players what needs to be taught, especially in college sports because of player development.”
Despite injuries, Gimmillaro remains optimistic about the incoming season that includes four returning starters headlined by third-year middle blocker Alexis Crimes.
“I think we have the best middle blocker in the country in Alexis. She is the epitome of this team,” Gimmillaro said. “We have some positions where we have experience and some where we don’t, but we make that up by being physical. We will be alright.”
Crimes is on the same page as her skipper. She acknowledges the poll but believes in accomplishing more than a conference title.
“It’s a great honor but besides winning in the Big West, we need to win in the [NCAA] tournament,” Crimes said.
“I see talent and I see potential in the team but we must mesh together to win. The key is to work as one team, not as six individuals.”
Gimmillaro’s new practices and a strong veteran presence certainly gives The Beach potential, but until the season’s end, history shows how health goes, The Beach goes.