Titans volleyball set for upcoming season

New coach, strong energy

by Than Acuff

Once again the Crested Butte Titans volleyball team has a new coach at the helm. Last year Morgan McNallie stepped into the role and had the team turning close matches into wins as they finished the season 11–-10, their first winning season since 2013.

This year Erin Goggins will take the helm as the head coach, with the girls head basketball coach Vaden Holmes taking on the assistant coaching job.

Goggins was hired on as the coach a little over two weeks prior to the start of the pre-season but comes into the position with an extensive and unique history with the sport. Goggins played competitive volleyball in high school but followed her track career into college. Still, while at college, she coached a middle-school–aged team and spent several years as a volleyball official working extensively at high school matches.

“I’ve been around the sport for so long but officiating is where I gained the most knowledge of the sport,” says Goggins. “I was able to watch how teams play, how coaches coached, from a different perspective.”

Goggins and Holmes have 30 players out this season, more players than the program has seen in years. Among those 30 players is a large core of veterans, as Goggins has six seniors and six juniors this year.

“I have a lot of players who have played a lot of different positions for a couple of different coaches,” says Goggins.

While that may create some chaos, Goggins believes it’s had a very positive affect on the players and allows her to follow her coaching style. It’s a style that is focused more on creating well-rounded players rather than players who are just setters or just hitters, for example.

“If you’re a good ball handler, you can play any position,” says Goggins. “I’ve moved them around and shook them up a bit but they’re rolling with it.”

To maintain that philosophy, Goggins spent a lot of the first week improving their cardio with fitness work and a lot of work with the ball.

“We did a lot of body strength training and got them as many touches on the ball as possible,” says Goggins, “especially touches in game situations.”

Now in the team’s second week, Goggins has turned the focus to line-ups and rounding out skills and ball handling.

“They definitely look good and I’m really happy with the numbers and the experience they’ve had playing,” says Goggins.

The Titans have a scrimmage tournament in Grand Junction this coming weekend and will host Sanford for their first home match on Saturday, August 31.

“I feel very positive about our season, but I haven’t seen our competition play yet,” says Goggins. “I’m excited to see what happens.”