By: Noah Dombroski, Contributing Writer
The Lady Lions volleyball team is looking to go all-in this season after turning in an above-average record last year. Finishing 5th place in the Sunshine State Conference in 2018, the team won 17 of their 32 total matches, and 12 of their 20 matches against other teams in the SSC, turning in a respectable record and a clip above .500. Now, with a new head coach at the helm, and several returning players of excellent caliber, the Lions are on a strong path to top the SSC this upcoming season.
Saint Leo Volleyball welcomes back twelve players this year, including six seniors and the entire starting lineup, all of whom will surely bring plenty of experience and talent to compliment the six hungry freshmen and sophomores on the roster.
Finishing 5th place in the Sunshine State Conference in 2018, the team won 17 of their 32 total matches, and 12 of their 20 matches against other teams in the SSC
This is virtually the same core squad that has taken the team to the NCAA South Regional all of their last three seasons. However, the real excitement in the air comes from the hiring of the team’s new head coach, Jason Skoch.
Acquiring the position at the end of the last season in January of 2018, Coach Skoch brings with him a fantastic resume. Skoch has been a Division II head coach for the last 14 years, and carries an astonishing career win percentage of 79%!
A five-time conference coach of the year, Skoch has been to the NCAA postseason 11 out of his 14 seasons and advanced various teams to the NCAA Elite 8 five times.
It’s no mystery as to where his coaching prowess comes from. Skoch himself is a former club volleyball player at multiple Division I universities, including Penn State and Oklahoma State, and has a master’s degree in statistics. Combine all of that with his extensive experience and impressive resume, and it would appear that the Lions have found the right guy for the job.
I was fortunate enough to sit down with Coach Skoch and ask him a few questions in advance of the 2019 season. When asked what he was looking to change this season compared to how the team operated last year, he replied, “There’s really not [much change], long story short is that more than half the team is juniors and seniors, so we have been very careful about what we changed, because they have a great window of productivity left….
We told them that the goal is to value first and second contact a little bit more they’re naturally really aggressive players, so we want them to stay aggressive, but we want them to learn a little bit more of the finesse game to go along with their power.”
Saint Leo Volleyball welcomes back twelve players this year, including six seniors all of whom will surely bring plenty of experience and talent.
The next question was whether or not the team did anything extraordinarily well in any areas last season that the coaches are intent of keeping the same this year, to which Skoch replied, “When they play, they’re aggressive, but it needs to be controlled, and that’s the trick.
I’ve had teams where we’re so disciplined and controlled, but then sometimes you have to just throw caution to the wind and just ball, and [the Lions]have done that exceptionally well.”
It certainly seems like the Lions organization has made a solid choice for a new head coach to take the helm at the right time. Skoch will be joined by Assistant Coach Abigail Moser, a former coach at Quincy University with a few years of Division II coaching experience already under her belt. Skoch, in an interview with the SLU Athletic Dept., cited that despite her young age, she has a plethora of experience and a specialty in the first-ball contact, both critical assets that should be able to help get the team in top gear as quickly as possible this season.
We wish Coach Skoch and his Lady Lions the best of luck in his inaugural season. Make sure you come out to support the team in their first home match against SSC rival Florida Southern on September 20 at 7:00 pm!
