TOWSON, Md. - You can say this for Bruce Atkinson - he's not afraid to do the unconventional.
The Tigers' volleyball coach proved that last year by coming more than 5,000 miles east to trade in the mild climate and relative serenity of paradise where he coached at the University of Hawaii-Hilo for the humidity and traffic of Maryland.
Now, in his second season, Atkinson is pushing the Tigers to move faster and faster. And it's working - to the tune of an 8-1 mark heading into Tuesday's home match with Morgan State.
“[A fast start] was our hope,” said Atkinson after a sweep of the Battle of Baltimore tournament over the weekend. “On paper, we knew we have a pretty good team. We lost a couple of key players before preseason practices started. That worries us, but we have the people to do well out of the gates.”
Susan Gansor, the team's lone senior, has anchored the attack and leads the team in blocks while sophomores Katy Buck and I'ishah Keliikoa provide offensive firepower and junior Aubrey Kirven runs the offense.
The record suggests that what they're doing is working. The Tigers have dropped only five sets all season – three in their lone loss to Ohio State and one each in wins over New Hampshire and West Virginia, all on the road.
In their present seven-match win streak, the Tigers have dropped just one set, but have won each of their last six matches by a 3-0 margin.
“Our whole goal is to continue to improve, little by little,” said Atkinson. “We're obviously wanting to win. More importantly than that, we're just hoping to clean things up on our end of the court before we get into conference play.”
Towards that end, Atkinson continues to implement a fast style on offense, whose key is to ensure that, in their sets, the ball rarely, if ever, flies above the height of the antenna. In that scenario, the ball gets out of the hands of the setter quickly and in turn, the attackers have to make quick moves to the net.
“What we don't want is for [the opponents] to dictate the speed of the match,” said Atkinson. “So, what we talk about is no matter what they're doing on their side of the court, once that ball crosses over, we run the tempo that we've been training on a daily basis.
“If we're able to do that, we stand a better chance of being successful in the match,” Atkinson added.
Besides their offensive experiments, the Tigers' other distinction is the way their roster resembles a mini-United Nations with two Polish natives, Marta Machos and Karolina Sawaniewicz, two Brazilians, Bibiany Fonseca and Dayane Van Ass, Puerto Rican native Arinis Fernandez and Keliikoa, who is from Hawaii.
The swirl of languages and ethnicities could turn the Towson locker room into a modern day Tower of Babel, but Atkinson says the mix has worked well.
“It really brings a team closer together,” said Atkinson. “I think it definitely broadens the horizon. To be able to learn about other cultures and to get to know people from different backgrounds makes for a nice mix and also keeps things fresh off the court.”
Before they return to the Towson Center on September 20 against Howard, the Tigers will take their quick-strike offense and blend of cultures will get important tests.
It starts this weekend in a three-match tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas where they'll meet Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, North Texas and Texas-Pan American. The next weekend, Towson will travel to Raleigh for a tournament against The Citadel, Liberty and host North Carolina State.
The hope is that all of this pays off in Colonial Athletic Association play with a shot at making the six-team conference tournament.
“We feel that we have a team that, as long as we can stay healthy, is in a position to do that,” said Atkinson. “Once we get into conference play, we'll see what happens.”
It's a sure bet that Atkinson and the Tigers won't be afraid to do things differently.
