Oregon State volleyball is no easy task in July. It takes determination – and a good alarm.
“I know they are working out hard,” coach Terry Liskevych said. “At 6:30 a.m. every morning.”
The team can’t officially practice until August 8. The same day the Olympic Games begin – ironic maybe because Liskevych is a former Olympian – but the team can lift weights and participate in open gym without the coaches.
“We like practice at 6:30,” middle blocker Lexie Rathgeber said. “The workouts are all over and we have the rest of the day for class.”
Rathgeber is currently enrolled in two classes – one online and one in a classroom.
Not far from Rathgeber, outside hitter Bree Knitter had her own thoughts.
“If I could choose, I would have practice at 6:30,” she said. “We do tough conditioning and lifting and it’s over before it’s too hot outside.”
The team lifts in the new Sports Performance Center but has to practice at different places depending on whether there are other camps taking place inside Gill Coliseum. This week, a gymnastics camp is using the arena so the team will likely be in Dixon.
The team is heading into fall camp looking better than last season. The volleyball program returns all the starts except Kristin Murray and K.C. Walsh. Murray graduated and Walsh decided to end her volleyball career.
“K.C. transferred but is not playing volleyball anymore,” Liskevych said. “I think, in her mind, the fun of volleyball has subsided and to play collegiate volleyball you really have to love the game.”
The team is adding a few players: middle blocker Brecht Gijsbertsen from the Netherlands and libero Betsy Devich from Woodinville, Washington.
Gijsbertsen is currently in a battle with the NCAA about eligibility.
“It’s all in the NCAA’s hands” Liskevych said. “That’s all I can say.”
The compliance office voiced a similar opinion and was unable to comment on the matter. Gijsbertsen played internationally for Bayer, which considers its volleyball team as playing a “professional sport,” according to its website.
That isn’t holding Gijsbertsen back, though. She has already arrived in Corvallis and attended classes.
“It’s good she came early,” Knitter said. “She gets to learn our style of training.”
These additions to the team add two players to an already veteran-stacked team and will help secure loose ends with the loss of Murray and Walsh.
“We will surprise some people,” Liskevych said. “We are better this year, but then again the Pac-10 is better – if you can believe that.”
“We will be better,” Knitter said. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
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