Two years is not a lot of time to build a contending team in any sport. But Daytona State College Volleyball Coach Laura Stegall has done just that, gathering a group of talented athletes and shaping them into a close-knit unit both on and off the court.For Stegall, volleyball is as much a learning experience and journey to self-discovery as it is competition and athleticism. Take her “Mental Mondays,” for instance, where the team comes together to watch motivational videos or discuss excerpts from books such as “The Champion's Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train and Thrive” by noted sports psychologist Dr. Jim Afremow.
“We spend a lot of time not just on the court focusing on the game of volleyball, but also mentoring our student athletes to become great people, to develop a mental toughness that can be applied to their lives as well as their sport, and to nurture their relationships so that come match time, they’re playing for each other.”
The Falcons had a great September, winning 13 matches in a row and earning a top 10 NJCAA Division I national poll before hitting a rough stretch after leading hitter Alica Kandler of Germany was downed with a leg injury. The team is 20-9 going into the conference-heavy final weeks of regular season.
With four conference matches to go, the Falcons, 3-3 in the Mid-Florida Conference, are one win behind Santa Fe (4-2) for the conference’s final regional tournament spot, slated Nov. 6-8 at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
“We have a rough road ahead of us,” Stegall noted of the team’s chances of making the tournament. “Our conference is extremely tough and we have to win going forward. But we are very fortunate that we have brought in some great kids who are committed to the program and to each other.”
Catch all Falcons Volleyball home matches online via video stream at http://www.ihigh.com/daytonastate.
