College Volleyball Team Photo

Penn State Basketball: Q&A With New Hoops Coach Patrick Chambers, Part I

It’s been 45 days (since you were hired). How has it been?

It’s been great. I’m having a lot of fun. We have a full staff. I’ve been all over the country and I enjoy traveling. I think we are getting some things done. We are slowly changing the environment.

Our team is here and they are working extremely hard on and off the floor. And with recruiting, we’ve been out checking out prospects. I really can’t talk about them.

It’s going well so far. I’m excited about where we are headed. But one thing I need to be is patient. As a new head coach, you want to make your statement, you want to change things now. But that’s not reality. We have to be patient, we have to pick the right guys for us.

And we have to be patient with the current team. I really can’t work with them right now. We have to wait until Aug. 22-23 when we start doing four-on-four. Then I get my hands around them a little bit and see what we have.

As a fast-paced guy that I am, I just have to exhale a little bit and take deep breaths.

Have seen the (current) guys? Have you seen them on tape?

I’ve seen them on tape. So far I’ve watched maybe 10 tapes to get a feel for what we have coming back. Now Talor (Battle) and Jeff (Brooks) and DJ (David Jackson) and Andrew (Jones) are a big part of it, so I want to start going back a little further to see the other guys.

It takes a lot more investigation to find those guys as they run the floor. I have our video coordinator, Adam Fisher, working on a highlight reel of Jermaine (Marshall) and Jon Graham and Billy Oliver. Sasa (Borovnjak) was hurt. And Adam’s working on all the incoming freshmen.

I’ve seen a lot of YouTube stuff on most of the guys, but it’s always good to get a real look at what they do in a real game, not YouTube stuff.

Do you think you are going to get the good graces of a rebuilding year or expectations are going to be strong out of the chute?

That’s a good question. I think everybody is interested in seeing how we are going to play. I think they’re interested to see who wants to play hard, who wants to compete. They want to see that. They want to see an energized team, an energized program. And then we’ll see what happens.

I wouldn’t say they’re going to give me a pass this year. I don’t think it should be that anyway. We have some talent.

Eastern Michigan University Athletics - Volleyball Team Honored by ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team was one of 92 NCAA Division I programs to receive the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2010-11 school year. The honor marks the 11th time in the program's history, and the seventh consecutive year that EMU has earned the award. "A hearty congratulations to all the volleyball coaches whose teams won the 2011 AVCA Team Academic Award," said AVCA Executive Director, Kathy DeBoer. "Teams do not succeed in the classroom by accident any more so than they do on the court. The same coach who taught them volleyball skills cared enough about their academic achievement to gather their grades, calculate their GPA, and submit a nomination on their behalf. In doing so, these coaches sent a clear message that classroom success is just as important as court success. All involved should celebrate this award!" The Team Academic Award has become one of the AVCA's fastest growing awards programs, seeing an impressive surge in teams honored over the past several years. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but one, while amassing an overall 170% increase over the span of the decade. Since the award's inception in 1993, the award has risen by an astounding 674%. NCAA Division II recorded their highest-ever total number of recipients, honoring 57 programs while Division III easily surpassed last year's record of 75 winners with 88 this year. The high school division also set a new record with its 194 recipients. Prior to 2010-11, only 11 teams had attained the pinnacle of volleyball success in both earning the AVCA Team Academic Award and winning their respective collegiate national championship in the same academic year. This year, the AVCA is proud to recognize three programs -- Calvin College (NCAA Division III), Concordia University-St. Paul (NCAA Division II), and Clearwater Christian College (NCCAA Division II) - all three of whom excelled in the classroom and on the court. The AVCA, with its headquarters in Lexington, Ky., is managed by Associations International. The mission of the AVCA is to develop and grow the sport of volleyball; with a membership of over 5,000 and counting, the AVCA provides a professional network for those individuals and companies dedicated to enhancing and developing the sport.

Complete conditioning for volleyball

Karch Kiraly, A Tribute to Excellence

The Alcalde

The Lansdowne era, Victoria College, 1946-1963

Applying College Sports in a Professional Career, Action Edition