After a historic run last year, the Tufts volleyball team sets sights on its upcoming competitive season with excitement. Despite graduating three pivotal seniors, the team maintains high hopes with the introduction of five new first-years and the return of the remaining roster members. Newly elected captains, junior setter Maddie Yu, senior middle hitter Grace Legris and senior outside hitter and defensive specialist Anna Nachmanoff shared their insights on the team and the season they are eagerly anticipating.
All three captains were elected by their fellow teammates to lead the team on and off the court for the 2022-23 season. Yu, Legris and Nachmanoff all cited leading by example as a pivotal strategy for their personal captainship style. Of the three, Legris is the only returning captain, as she served last season alongside two senior captains. She said returning as a captain is something she is particularly excited about.
“I’m excited to have a second opportunity to lead the team and be more of a vocal presence in the gym and off the court as well,” Legris said. “I want to be someone my teammates can look toward both in a volleyball context or if a social thing comes up and just as a friend to go to.”
The volleyball captain culture, as described by Nachmanoff, is about serving your teammates. Yu, the only junior captain, shared similar sentiments, in addition to her thoughts on being elected by her peers.
“I feel honored to be chosen by my teammates,” Yu said. “Like [Anna Nachmanoff] said, it’s definitely about servanthood and how we can better our team.”
The team started its preseason in late August, having all players arrive early to campus to prepare for the fall. Legris described the structure and shared how the practices have been going so far.
“I think it’s been going well,” Legris said. “We started coach practices last Wednesday. We’ve been doing two-a-days since then. It started off at a fast pace, like everyone is picking it up and we’re running our whole offense. It’s going really well in my opinion. Everyone seems bought in and really focused at practice.”
More specifically, Nachmanoff shared what the team has been honing in on during these past few weeks.
“Ball control wins games,” Nachmanoff said. “That’s definitely our big focus. Also integrating our freshmen into the team both on the court and off the court.”
As many teams do, the volleyball team likes to live by a season slogan. Something short, sweet and hopefully inspirational dictates the direction of the players and team as a whole. The captains shared what this fall’s slogan is and what it means to them.
“[The team motto is] ‘Right here, right now’,” Nachmanoff said. “It has a lot to do with being in the present moment and having big goals but knowing all the smaller steps to get there. We talk a lot about focusing on the process over the result. So just putting in the work each day — right here, right now.”
Legris expanded further on this season’s team motto.
“Also, not focusing too much on the future and what games we have ahead of us, but what we’re working on right now. At the same time, not focusing too much on the past. If you make a mistake, it’s done with.”
The team finished its season with an impressive 21–6 record. Despite losing in the NESCAC tournament to Wesleyan, the Tufts team received an at-large bid to compete in the NCAA tournament. The team advanced all the way to the Elite 8 after defeating the No. 1 seeded team in the country, Johns Hopkins University, in the Sweet 16. Tufts fell short of a national championship, losing to the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire to end the season.Coming off this success story, Yu emphasized the excitement — rather than the pressure — generated by the season’s end.
“Well, obviously it was really exciting to go that far in the tournament,” Yu said. “But, we lost a few players and we have some new ones so I think it’s definitely different and we have to work right here, right now to integrate and create that new team dynamic. So, [it is] obviously very exciting, but we need to focus on what we’re doing in the present moment.”
Finally, with the departure of three seniors and addition of five first-years, the captains spoke on team chemistry and how they are working to unify the new group before their first game.
“We’re doing double days, but in between practices and stuff we’re getting all our meals together,” Nachmanoff said.
Yu highlighted the decrease of COVID-19 restrictions in creating more freedom for the team to engage in bonding activities.
“This is my first season out of COVID, almost fully out of COVID, and my first preseason we’ve been able to go off campus and do bonding activities,” Yu said. “Yesterday we went to Honey Pot Hill Orchards and we went to Boone Lake and got to swim and do stuff outside of Tufts. Before, I hadn’t really [been] able to do that so it feels really good, the team dynamic, because we’re able to have more options and do more things together.”
