Warhawks volleyball uses summer camps to prepare

With the volleyball season starting on Aug. 29 at home vs Hampton-Dumont-CAL, the West Fork Warhawks volleyball team was getting ready for the start of the season thanks to a couple of summer camps this past week. Head coach Emily Greimann said that the first camp on Wednesday had retired Ankeny volleyball head coach Dave Whims run the camp.

“He is the winningest coach in Iowa state history,” Greimann said. “So he really knows what he is talking about and so he came in and pretty much start with the basics and fine tuning some things and then he showed some different drills to level up our game and things we can put into practice later. It was a good way to get the girls not only excited for volleyball but back into the swing of things.”

Then on Thursday, Greimann said they took a varsity squad down to Johnston and played six scrimmage games. At the scrimmages, Greimann said it was nice to play some local teams that they had seen before and some non local teams that they had never seen.

“For that it was getting back into the swing of things but also seeing what girls we have and how well they play together and having fun with it,” Greimann said. “Just kind of kicking off the season and that was great.”

One way the two camps can help the team prepare for the upcoming season was getting them mentally ready for volleyball.

“It was a great way to get it in their minds that it is volleyball season now,” Greimann said. “I know that one of the hardest things about being a sport that starts right after summer break is that they have a lot going on, they have school starting and their sports starting and it can kind of take them a little bit to get really into it. But by having these camps it is like having a little stepping stone like hey the season is starting let’s get it going and it gets them excited and it gets their mind right and the little practice doesn't hurt either.”

From what she saw in the camps, Greimann said one thing she liked was how the team worked together and their energy even after the team had lost multiple seniors last year.

“They were very selfless at the scrimmages which was so amazing to see,” Greimann said. “I could take any girl out and put any girl in and you would hear them cheering for each other on the sidelines and that is huge for me. Just the fact that they truly enjoy playing together and are excited to play together, that alone was one thing I was looking for.”

Seeing the team work well together was exciting for Greimann and she said that looking forward to going deeper with that when practices start.

“Getting a group that really likes to work together is huge,” Greimann said.

With how different the two camps were, Greimann said there were a few things the team could take away from the camps.

“I hope that all the girls from Wednesday can just take away some of the knowledge and just a little bit of things they can work on,” Greimann said. “I hope the camp on Wednesday got them for volleyball season but also lit a fire for them to work on some things and get ready to go. On Thursday at the scrimmage camp I also hope that lit that fire as well and got them ready to go and brought some excitement for them and I hope that translates to next week where we can continue that excitement. That is what I am looking for is girls who are ready to play and excited to learn and are always hungry for more and are ready to win some games.”