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Carolina volleyball is building a program with love.
UNC’s new volleyball coach Mike Schall has been at it for almost two seasons after taking over for veteran Joe Sagula. Schall’s sport is faster paced than ever and requires athleticism and teamwork.
The Tar Heels won their seventh straight match Wednesday night by sweeping Duke in three sets at the hallowed Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Tar Heels, now 11-1 and 3-0 in the ACC, have beaten the Blue Devils in eight of their last 10 meetings, dating back to Sagula’s tenure.
Earlier that day, Schall spoke to a group meeting of On The Team, which was founded by Chapel Hill resident, former college athlete and Harvard grad Anne Jones, who brings elite women athletes in front of businesses to inspire and share insights about leadership, teamwork, resilience, and accountability.
And it’s not just for women.
Jones believes they can teach everyone elements that bring success with stories about how women dealing with their individual challenges can affect their teams in sports and life.
Jones also had North Carolina Courage soccer stars Kaleigh Kurtz and former Carolina All-American Brianna Pinto talking about how their personal preparation can have a positive influence on their mates by everyone sharing how they get ready for their next day or week.
When practice for the season began, Schall asked his 17 players to each decide what characteristic was most important in reaching their team goals. And they all decided it was love and the support it brings.
Watching his players outhit Duke was all about his constant rotation on the court and those not playing standing at the end of the bench wildly cheering on their teammates, who appear to be building an ACC power behind senior Mabrey Shaffmaster and Chelsea Thorpe who combined for 21 kills, and five service aces led by sophomore Safi Hampton’s three. Sophomore Thorpe (.500) and grad student Alexis Engelbrecht (.462) led the team in hits against the Dukies.
Schall also has a life goal of developing his players and young staff into adults who can help change the world.
He rarely talks in team huddles, meeting with his young coaches who all have position assignments at the start of timeouts and then letting one or two of them speak to the team while he may encourage players as the TO ends.
He says this is somewhat standard in college volleyball, but his team seems highly engaged during the action and highly attentive in huddles.
This is something that is going on at Carolina away from the rabid masses who live and die with football and basketball. But it is very much part of the overall program that is among the best in Olympic sports in the country and hopefully will remain strong during these turbulent times in college athletics.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
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Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
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