Hodag volleyball taking advantage of increased summer contact

Rhinelander High School volleyball coach Jayme Wyss admits she’s not a fan of the decision to lift the restrictions on the numbers of days coaches can be in contact with their players during the summer, but she’s still trying to use the new rules to her and the Hodags’ advantage.

The team held its four-day camp last week at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium and Wyss said she’s already seen a marked difference in the team she took over a little more than one year ago. 

“There’s been a difference of skill coming in. For example, day one last year, probably spent two hours on just like the top paragraph of notes because we were stuck on passing, because we couldn’t pass,” she said. “And then I had almost like, like three quarters of my page done we were an hour in yesterday. Like, we could just advance stuff. Even though there’s some younger ones, we’re able to pull them along.”

A full offseason of work has certainly helped as the Hodags look to improve on last year’s 12-27 overall record and strive for their first winning campaign since 2012. 

Between camp, open gym and summer leagues, Wyss said she personally has put in roughly 20 contact days this summer. The limit was five days prior to an amendment passed earlier this year by WIAA member schools at its annual meeting that lifted the cap on summer contact. 

Wyss said she was critical of the change, noting the potential pitfalls for coaches, and the increased stress on student-athletes, even if those contact days are voluntary. 

“I think it is one of the worst decisions that WIAA could have done, to be honest, because you have programs that already have a hard time retaining coaches, and now the pressure on coaches has increased to put in more free time, and then you’re gonna have a higher turnover, because parent complaint’s going to increase, right? You’re not doing enough,” she said. “Then you have the other end, who already crosses the line of, it’s not ‘mandatory’ summer practices, but it kind of is. Then you have those extreme coaches who I think are just going to, like run away with it, and girls getting lost and burned in the middle.”

That being said, especially with an influx of talented freshmen entering the program, Wyss said the onus is on the players to make sure they put in the work in the offseason. Overall this summer, Wyss said she’s seen a positive step in that regard. 

“I feel like Rhinelander volleyball is finally going to elevate in the sense that there’s actual responsibility to take and put in the work. And I think that’s been lacking before,” she said. 

    Ava Rathbun spikes a ball while teammate Libbey Buchmann looks on during Hodag volleyball team camp Monday, July 21 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Last week’s camp was broken into three sessions — mornings for high school players, early afternoon for middle schoolers and late afternoon for elementary players. Much of the emphasis throughout the week was spent on individual skills and position-specific drills.

“We covered a lot of drills, skills, try to cover everything, like, any types of tips, roll shots, everything,” she said. “We did a little bit of defense, which is a little more team dynamic, but mostly it’s individual skill — how to move, how to pass, how to set — those kind of skills, like even angle passing. All the finesse detail stuff.” 

Wyss noted that the highest turnout was from the middle school session, though the incoming freshman group has stood out, not only during camp, but during the team’s summer league in Merrill.

“That incoming freshman class is huge, because last year, my middle school was impressive. And my high school was not. And now my high school is a lot more solid, and my middle school is not, and then I realize, because that class came up, and they brought a lot of skills in leadership,” she said. 

Wyss said she has also noticed a change in the dynamic with her returning players. 

“Now I feel like, OK, there’s been a cultural shift, my leaders are awesome, I have the three returning seniors, Libbey (Buchmann), Tori (Stella), Kayla (Skubal), who are just super kind, great leaders. Then you have Ava (Rathbun), who’s super loud and motivated … Ava’s one of my standouts this year. I feel like, she buckled down and, really focused and got really good.” 

Fall practice for the Hodag volleyball team will begin Aug. 17 and Wyss said the team will be in a much better spot to begin than it was a season ago. 

“These girls already know what they’re doing,” she said. “I appreciate that so much. I can go around and critique little things, but overall, most of them, at least have some sense of what they’re doing, and we can move through drills faster.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].