BY: Max Beers
Tribe Volleyball’s 2024 season is in full swing. After two weeks of action, the team sits at 4-5. While that record may not immediately jump off the page, some deeper digging reveals a myriad of reasons that this year may be special.
Those reasons range from Head Coach Ryan Adams’ players-first style to the exciting talent that the program retained. To better understand how these factors show up on the court, I sat down with 5th year Outside Hitter Maddie Meyers.
My discussion with Meyers started by discussing head coach Ryan Adams. Adams is a unique coach to say the least, everything I’ve heard about him makes him sound like a real life Ted Lasso. Similar to the eponymous tv character, Adams sees off-court success as just as important as improving a program’s record. For example, he mandates that all of his students maintain a 3.0 GPA or better and he has set up a mentoring program that matches players with team alumni that share interests.
The cherry on top though, is that he’s really good at coaching volleyball. After serving as an assistant for the Tribe in 2016-2017, he made a quick stop at Bucknell then became the head coach of Lafayette College. Lafayette had gone 0-16 the year before Adams took over, yet in his first year as coach they had their winningest season in over a decade.
Thus, when William & Mary began looking for a new leader after the fall 2022 season, the former Patriot League coach of the year was the obvious choice.
In his first year, William & Mary’s 13-15 record was its best since 2012 when the team went 13-14. To Meyers, this sudden progress isn’t a fluke. In her mind, Adams took over a program on the rise, and allowed the players to keep it going,
“He trusts that we got here for a reason, he recruited us for a reason. He wants to help us find our place in the program without shoving us into a mold. We are individuals making up a community and not just the same exact player he wants us to be.”
Now in his second year, Adams’ player-first coaching style is set to propel our favorite volleyball team to new heights. When asked how she feels about a second year with Adams at the helm, Meyers said,
“We have momentum from feeling more on the same page… I’ve seen a lot of girls excel under his coaching style because he gives you a bit of leash to go through your learning process instead of just taking you out after a mistake.”
Making this comment even more exciting, though, is the sheer amount of talent that volleyball returned from last year. Of the 17 players who played last year, 14 are returning to the program along with four newcomers. If that level of talent retention sounds atypical, that’s because it is. In addition to the three departures, the Tribe was supposed to lose Maddie Meyers, Sabrina Malcolm, and Emma Minnick to graduation.
Instead, Meyers and Malcolm are back for fifth years and Minnick is returning as an assistant coach. So far, there’s every indication that keeping their veteran presence around was a good call. Through six matches, Meyers leads the team in kills with 87 (Nicole Smith comes in second with 44).
Malcolm is no slouch either, she’s played in every set this season, is second on the team in blocks, and serves as a team captain. Furthermore, there is every reason to believe Minnick is acclimating to her new role well.
As of this writing, William & Mary has played nine non-conference games including their home tournament the Tribe Invitational. The main story is that the group is really, really good at blocking the other team.
When comparing W&M’s defensive stat lines with their opponents’, one finds that the vast majority of the stats are just about even, except for one: blocking. In fact, the team is out blocking their opponents 74-47. That number put the Tribe at the top of NCAA leaderboards. They are 4th in the country in block solos, 22nd in blocks per set, and 4th in the entirety of D1 volleyball in total blocks.
While eight players have recorded a block this year, those numbers are headlined by middle blockers Sabrina Malcolm and reigning CAA defensive player of the week Olivia Esposito. Both of these players were excellent last year, Esposito even earning preseason all CAA, but they seem to have taken their game to a new level.
Already this year they’ve earned all tournament honors and Esposito leads the conference in blocks. If the duo can keep doing what they’re doing, then the team’s defense may set the Tribe apart.
With all of this information in mind, our favorite volleyball team is on track to break through this year. As the season progresses, I’ll be watching, two key metrics to determine how the team is doing. First, can they win on the road this year? Over the past few seasons, the Tribe has dominated in Kaplan Arena and at neutral sites, but struggled in away games.
Just last year they went 10-4 in the former but 3-11 in the latter. Meyers told me that this year the group has a new approach to away games. They’ve adjusted how they travel to better suit academic schedules and they’re ensuring they practice in opposing facilities before game day. If those adjustments translate into wins, then they’re on the path to success.
The second stat I’ll be watching is how the team fares against teams they saw last year. The Tribe is seeing nine separate opponents for the second year in a row. Last year the combined record against these nine teams was 8-8.
This year’s record against last year’s opponents will be a good barometer for how the program’s progress compares to in division rivals.
Go Tribe!
Photos courtesy of Tribe Athletics
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