Spring Competition

It’s FINALLY springtime, my absolute favorite time of the year. We have been having a blast and spending a lot of time together! Having the whole team back on campus is what truly makes the spring term special, although the nicer weather doesn’t hurt either!

We have been working hard both on and off the court this term. We just competed in our last tournament for this spring season, and for Alex, Lucia, Holly and myself, the last spring tournament of our time here at Dartmouth (I cannot believe how time has flown)! However, we still have a lot of training left! Next week we conclude with our last 3 team practices and then we will transition into “individuals,” small, position-focused group practices. While I love competing in 6-on-6 drills during team practices, individuals provide a nice time to really concentrate on specific aspects of our game that we want to improve on and to get a lot of reps doing these particular things.

Not only are we working on our physical game, but we are also improving our mental abilities as well. This spring, we have been really focusing on our mental toughness and our leadership skills. We get together as a team with Steven Spauldo, the Assistant Athletics Director for Leadership here at Dartmouth. He has led us through discussions on mental toughness, concentration, goal-setting, and routines. These discussions have allowed us to practice the skills that we learn in our trainings. I think we have made improvements in both our physical and mental game, but we still have work to do!

Although it is bittersweet to think that this is my last spring season as a Dartmouth College Women’s Volleyball player, I am really looking forward to continuing to get stronger and better as a team! I am super excited about the progress we have made so far this spring season!
Maura Manley '15