Libero and DS Physical Training - Emphasis on Power and Short-Area Quickness

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Melrose had a "blended" back row last season after graduation of the 2025 stalwarts.

MVB 26 will have "strength in the back" with Captain Anna Burns and rising sophomores Danni DiGiorgio and Alisa Dautovic as strong candidates to backstop the back. Other players will battle to unseat them and earn time at the "designated server" spots. 

The competition is healthy - and honest. Six spots, more than a dozen players who belong in the conversation. “The best teams don’t just do more. They put ten pounds in a five-pound bag.”

Margin for Error

All opinions and errors expressed in the blog are solely mine. The blog is not an official publication of MVB or any City of Melrose institution. 

"Margin for error" reveals no early warning signs. 

Melrose played 74 sets this season. 8 were decided by 3 points, 7 decided by 2 points, meaning 15 were decided by 2-3 points. 

Subtracting the 22 sets played against the weaker teams in the Middlesex League leaves 52 sets, of which 15 (29 percent) were decided by 2-3 points. In other words, "critical points" decided over a quarter of sets played against "better" competition.

Raise your "sense of urgency" preparing for the season. Ambitions fulfilled mean more points won and fewer given away by 'correctable' actions. 

What does "correctable actions" mean?

• "Control what you can control." Elevate focus. 
• "Stop runs." That depends on focus. Momentum erases leads.
• "Hold serve." Be intentional finding seams and weaknesses.
• "Block steady." Anticipate and get hands on the ball. 

Don't concern yourself with correcting technique during matches. You won't find great hitters changing their stance in game or golfers working on their swing during the Masters. 

Lagniappe. Your preparation and process now manifest during the season and the postseason. "Process over prize." 

Rory McIlroy shares one of his favorite mantras and mindsets.

"One of the things that I love is focusing on the process over the prize."

"I would say to myself a lot: 'Process over prize. Process over prize. Process over prize.'"

"Just to take myself away from the outcome."… pic.twitter.com/JMGpH3cC0z

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) April 11, 2026

Multidimensional Player Evaluation

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose organization. 

Every coach/evaluator uses different metrics to evaluate players. Overlap exists. Coach Scott Celli and I haven't discussed this and this piece is "theoretical." 

As a player, why should you care? 

Graphic created by ChatGPT plus

As you seek to meet and raise the standard, "control what you can control" - foundational skills, teamwork, and embracing your role. "Nothing will change unless you change." Excellence stands on principles. "Repetitions make reputations." 

First, a digression. In THe Undoing Project, Michael Lewis discusses the career and research of Behavioral Psychologists Danny Kahneman and Amos Tversky. He shares metrics used by some for the NBA draft - age at drafting, college attended, and college basketball performance. In other words, it's more than performance...it's performance in demanding situations.

Physical makeup

• "The race is not always to the swiftest or the battle to the strongest but it pays to bet that way." - Damon Runyan
• All things being equal, the bigger, faster, stronger player has an advantage.

Athleticism 

• Power, quickness, vertical jump, and conditioning leverage skill.
• Focused training allow you to raise all these elements. 

Skill 

• Skill blends vision, decision-making, and execution
• Controlled aggressiveness and consistency factor in. 
• There is no substitute for skill.

"Volleyball IQ"

• Learn what to do, how and when to do it. That's experience.
• In the interim, "experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."
• Coaching is correction so that you improve your decisions. 

Resilience (Mental Toughness) 

• Success follows both skill and will. 
• The best in their fields are relentless.
• Do not quit. 

Intangibles - Commitment, Effort, Leadership, Teamwork

• Intangibles reflect character. 
• Exceptional players lead with competitive character. 

Age

• Achievement = Performance x Time 
• Experience is not solely a function of age. Young players star earlier and accumulate experience younger. "This is not a union job."
• Advantage accrues to having players for more years. Some players become "late bloomers" and add substantial value in their final season. Anna Shoemaker was a prime example. 

Integrated Performance  

Make the sum greater than the individual parts. Every top player has skill, game understanding, athleticism, and resilience. They compound those into high performance. 

When your time comes, don't get ready, be ready. 

Lagniappe. "Boring before brilliance." 

💯 “Boring before brilliance.”

Paul Skenes details his routine

Young athletes want to constantly do something new or novel

Often avoiding routine, fundamentals & what works…

“Sometimes it’s what it takes in sports

The boring process, the boring fundamentals.”

LISTEN: pic.twitter.com/ThskMnetau

— Gerry DeFilippo (@Challenger_ST) April 9, 2026

What Makes You Winning Players?

Winning is not required to be a winner.
Scoreboards measure results.
They don’t always measure character, toughness, or leadership.
Did you compete?
Did you respond the right way?
Did you honor the standard?
The game gives you a result.
Your response reveals if you’re a winner. pic.twitter.com/4YPmIeoEgt

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 7, 2026

"She's a winner." That's high praise. Coach John Wooden talked about success, not winning.

In Jason Selk's "10-Minute Toughness," he included both an "identity statement" and a "performance statement."

Identity is who you are and performance is what you do.

Identity links to character. Character and competence translate into performance.

Qualities of Winners and Leaders

• Competitive - "get after it"
• Team-focused attitude
• Committed
• Selfless - "serve the team"
• Tough - physically and mentally
• Disciplined - "You can't work only on days when you feel like it."
• Focused - Being in the moment with attention to detail
• Coachable
• Sacrifices - turns off distractions to improve process and puts others first "Leaders eat last."
• Balanced - seek harmony amidst home, school, "work"

Sport rewards actions, not words. 

Supporting a team is easy when they "play the right way." That distills to "doing what has to be done to succeed" and "avoiding what shouldn't be done because you want to succeed." 

Lagniappe. Grow your game. Invest in game study. Every exceptional player is a student of the game. 

Excellence or More?

Use this 3-tier jump circuit to improve your broad jump ⬇️

1) Depth + Broad Jump
2) 5 Continuous Broad Jumps
3) Single Leg Continuous Broad Jump

Perform 3-4 sets of each

4-5 reps per exercise

This circuit checks all the boxes for horizontal force & power development pic.twitter.com/tvkzZr03yg

— Keith Ferrara (@keithjferrara) April 8, 2026

Volleyball players are "knowledge workers." The best leverage skill and game understanding to achieve success. Exceptional players use quickness, power, and stamina to dominate.

Develop and monitor your program. What's your vertical? What's your broad jump? 

Find a workout partner and get two players into the top ten percent. 

Quick on Your Feet

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Volleyball requires that players are quick on their feet. Find answers in response to changing situations.

To add value to any organization - add clarity and know who you are.

They used to ask players at the NFL Combine, "If you were an animal, would you rather be a dog or a cat?" The "correct" answer was dog - loyal and wanting to be part of the pack. Cats can be independent an aloof. That's not ideal for the team. 

So what kind of tree are you?

You probably don't want to be a birch. Yes, they're attractive and their bark is great as a fire starter. But their roots are shallow and they often fall over as they "don't handle pressure." 

Coaches want reliable, tough, majestic athletes. Oak or redwood satisfy those requirements. 

But other trees come to mind, too. Bamboo has construction uses, grows rapidly, and is a great survival plant. 

You won't have to worry about MVB coaches asking about trees, but they'll want you to be a quick thinker under pressure. 

Lagniappe. Force your way onto the floor. Be aggressive, consistent, communicative, and make your teammates better. 

“I don’t complain about playing time.
My job is to play so well that the coach can’t sit me. If I wasn't going to make it - it wasn't going to be because my lack of attitude, my habits, and my energy.” - Shane Battier

(Via @thewinningdiff1 🎥)

pic.twitter.com/o3BtXA8DSk

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) April 6, 2026

Timing the Attack

Players have to adjust to the situation. In basketball, it's better to wait for the screen than to cut early.

In volleyball, superior athletes explode to the ball to execute.  

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Say "Yes" to Learning Opportunities

Embrace and thrive in a learning culture. That works for you across domains - home, school, work, sport.

Leadership QOTD: pic.twitter.com/CtORPbHVQA

— Allistair McCaw (@AllistairMcCaw) February 23, 2026

Examples:

• Disciplined study sessions with classmates
• Teacher "Office hours" for extra help or clarification
• Reading beyond 'required reading'
• Acquiring life skills (e.g. cooking) - "Everyone has to eat"
• Study individual and game video
• Strength and conditioning (MHS has equipment)
• Self-assessment (see below)

In The Leadership Moment, author Michael Useem presents a framework for "after action review." 

1. What went well? 
2. What went poorly?
3. What can we do differently next time?
4. What are the enduring lessons? 

The MVB '25 year was 'transitional' after graduation of many seniors. The team played competitively, young players got experience*, and learned what needs to improve. 

*Experience is what you get when you don't get everything you want.

Lagniappe. A basketball article that should resonate. Possessions! "Win this possession." 

Put another way, don't give away possessions:

• Lack of communication (mental error)
• Service errors (unless team has high ace percentage)
• Serve-receive errors
• Not closing the block 
• Low quality passing ("one bad pass leads to another")

Balance aggression with good judgment. 

Reduce errors. 

"Teams Call Seams"

Celtics' coach Joe Mazzulla says that one reason to watch film is to find ten to fifteen possessions that could be executed better.

Exceptional players and teams learn from mistakes and reduce them in the future. Teams don't get do-overs for lack of communication. 

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"Our Character Will Determine Our Ceiling"

“All year we have been saying the talent is our floor but our character will determine our ceiling.
And I am just so confident in their character, and that’s what determined how they played today.”

Talent makes you comparable.
Character makes you unforgettable. pic.twitter.com/taXxTZpTnd

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) April 5, 2026

Success requires talent, excellent coaching, and both working together. Celtics Coach Brad Stevens looks for players with competitive character. 

What does that mean? What separates the player with character from the player with talent? 

A talented player blocks shots. A high character player reads the play, gets to the spot early, and the block becomes a kill.

A talented player delivers a serve with pace and movement. A high character player delivers the serve with purpose -to a seam, to a weak player, or to the setter to force an out-of-system attack. 

A talented player makes a dig to keep the ball alive. The high character player resets quickly, gets to her runway for a dynamic attack from the set. 

A talented player gets kills. A high character player inspires her teammates and helps them win the next point. 

Elena Soukos was not only a talented player but a high character player. Her high quality attack from the back kept Billerica on the defensive, allowing MVB to go, "pass, set, hit." 

More on Slant Board Exercises

Strength and conditioning exercises can help with rehab and injury prevention.

Definitions:

VMO (vastus medialis oblique) - inner thigh muscle helping stabilize the knee and extend the knee

Posterior chain muscles - The posterior chain is the group of muscles and connective tissues on the backside of the body, extending from the base of the skull down to the soles of the feet. 

These muscles work as a kinetic chain for hip extension, resist flexion, and stabilize the spine, pelvis, and hips during movement. 

Slant board exercises can help with the VMO (especially descending squats) and calf strength, Achilles stretch, and ankle mobility (ascending board)

Inexpensive equipment that is easy to use. 

Goal Setting

Control process to achieve goals. Excellent habits consistently applied yield a chance at great results. 

Excellent teams have excellent habits. Winning players have winning process. "Protect your process." 

Achieving Short Term Goals

Focus. Excellent players are fully engaged..."play harder for longer."          Openness. Be coachable.                                                                      Sharing. Communicate. Encourage teammates. Energize. 

Reaching Volleyball Goals   

SMART. Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic. Timely. Write your        plan down. Execute and track results. 

Self-Test  

• How do you rate your attention?
• Do you have a written plan? 
• Are you tracking progress (e.g. reading plays, serving, blocking)

Lagniappe. Everyone has ups and downs, even exceptional players. What is your process when things aren't going your way? 

Dawn Staley shares the question every recruit should ask and almost none of them do.

"Everybody's good on the good days. It is who you can trust, who you can talk to and communicate with on your worst day."

Then she explained what she tells every recruit:
"We're gonna make you… https://t.co/z0bINWQw9J pic.twitter.com/4bf2X0tfSo

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) April 5, 2026