The Penn State assistant coach who helped lead the Nittany Lions to the 2014 NCAA Championship joined ASU’s volleyball staff on Feb. 3. Now, the level of intensity from newly-hired head coach Stevie Mussie has left the girls in shock.
The previous coach, Jason Watson, joined ASU volleyball in 2008. He led the Sun Devils to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 1992. Last season, the Sun Devils began 15-0 before getting pounded by injuries, finishing 19-13 and falling in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Upon the completion of the season, Watson accepted a head coaching position at the University of Arkansas.
Within four weeks, ASU athletic director Ray Anderson announced the hiring of ASU’s seventh volleyball head coach, Mussie. At a press conference on Feb. 22, she explained her mindset of creating "a program that is consistently elite, not only in the Pac-12, but also nationally.”
Her plan to do this is to increase the intensity and amount of practice. While a coaching transition could halt progress, junior outside hitter BreElle Bailey said she believes it is for the best.
“It’s been a really easy transition,” Bailey said. “Everyone has bought into everything she has told us. She came in completely opposite of what we had before, and it’s a good change. The intensity has definitely bumped up 100 times.”
After only a few months, junior Halle Harker agreed with Bailey, claiming Watson and Mussie could not be more opposite.
“I think she has a more defensive mindset,” Harker said. “She knows defense takes teams to the next level. There’s no such thing as a ball dropping without your body dropping on the floor as well.”
In order to achieve Mussie’s goal to be an elite program, the girls quickly realized the jump of intensity at practices.
“Practices are a lot more intense, and she demands a lot more of us,” Bailey said. “We’ve never had to stay here for the summer. We’ve never had three hour practices before. That’s the kind of stuff that gets you to the next level, though.”
Due to the fact that seniors Bianca Arellano, Macey Gardner, Whitney Follette, Mercedes Binns and Andi Lowrance are graduating, and Kizzy Ricedorff is going to miss her senior season due to an injury, the team will rely on the experience of a few returning players. Outside hitters Bailey, junior Cassidy Pickrell and freshman Lexi MacLean, freshman setter Kylie Pickrell, sophomore libero Halle Harker and freshman middle blocker Jasmine Koonts will carry the load.
While the schedule for spring competitions originally featured several games, the injuries led the team to forego them. Along with the UCL tear Cassidy suffered playing beach volleyball, Bailey is currently nursing a shoulder injury and Koonts is recovering from a concussion.
“We don’t really have any hitters,” Bailey said. “There was a pretty big spring tournament in Vegas, but we just didn’t have the bodies for it. We’re a small team as it is.”
Recognizing the need for recovery in order to return full force on May 16 for summer training, Mussie made a few adjustments.
“We’ve been going pretty hard since the beginning of spring, and I think that’s part of the reason why so many of us were injured,” Bailey said. “So now practices have slowed down and are a little shorter.”
In the end, the team competed only at the Arizona for a game earlier this spring.
With the loss of five girls, the coaches continue to the search to fill positions for the fall.
“Honestly, we’re just trusting the process right now,” Harker said. “Yes, with what we have right now, it isn’t a lot. But we know the fight and the work ethic that we do have, and we know our coaches have our back.”
With a new coach and slate of players, ASU volleyball plans to present themselves in a new light.
“We’re going to be disciplined,” Harker said. “We’re going to be little, but we’re going to be feisty. And I think we’re going to have more personality on the court than we have in our past years.”
Reach the reporter at ncorr@asu.edu or follow @natalieorr19 on Twitter.
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