Sights set on the sunshine

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Instead of walking out of the David Braley Athletic Centre in winter jackets and toques into the Canadian weather, the McMaster Women’s Volleyball team will be walking out of the gym into the Sunshine State heat this Christmas break.

The Marauders have won seven of their last eight games and stand atop the OUA West with 16 points and an 8-1 record.

Florida seems like a nice post-exam treat and late Christmas present.

But, as mentioned by Head Coach Tim Louks last week, the team wants to work and that’s what Florida will provide.

Prior to departing for Palm Harbor, FL, the Marauders will be on a scaled down schedule that involves hour workouts each day from Dec. 7 to Dec. 22.

“We’re going to work on defense, blocking, and details like that to lay groundwork for the second half,” said Louks. “We won’t put a big load on them. We’ll dabble in volleyball the next two weeks but they’ll be studying for exams and doing some strength and agility stuff. That’s what I want them to focus on right now.”

Add a few days back home for Christmas and then the work starts up again.

“After Christmas we always have a lot of defensive practices and serve-receive stuff. It’s just a lot of passing reps and digging reps,” said Mastroluisi.

The trip down south is a business trip of sorts.

“It’s a limited distraction environment,” said Louks. “In Florida we let volleyball take over for a while and then we get back to life, family, and school afterwards.”

While the warm coastal temperatures and the climate will surely evoke vacation-like vibes, the purpose of this trip is to train and work at their craft in a controlled setting. In Florida the team will have regular two-a-days and practices in between the four-day CIS South and Innisbrook Invitational they’ll host. There will be five teams at the tournament this year. The games will be played at community centers.

“This year we have Sherbrooke and McGill who are both CIS Top Ten teams. We have Brandon University where the CIS championship will be hosted this year and then we have Brock,” said Louks. “It has been pretty good in the past.”

The team won’t be playing any NCAA teams like Florida, Florida State or other American club teams because their seasons finish earlier.

For the past eight years or so Louks has organized a training trip and invitational tournament down in Florida. It happens every other year. The team will be flying out on Dec. 28 and arriving in Palm Harbor, FL, just outside the Tampa area. McMaster will play and practice on Dec. 30-31 and Jan. 2- 3. The invitational winner will be announced on Jan. 3. The Marauders fly home on Jan. 6 and play their first match of 2016 at home against Brock on Jan. 15.

“Arguably and historically, coming into the second half of the season, we have turned the Florida training into some good stuff,” said Louks.

Fifth-year captain and outside hitter Lauren Mastroluisi echoes her coach’s words.

“Everyone always says, ‘What’s in the water in Florida?’ because we play so well during and after the trip,” said Mastroluisi. “I think it’s because we’re just focused on volleyball. We’re not focused on school or relationships. We’re in Florida to play volleyball with our friends.”

This concept of getting away with the team specifically to focus on your game isn’t a new one. You see it in all different sports. Teams retreat away from their regular settings to focus on their craft. The goal of it all is to return better than you were when you went in.

“I’m not expecting anything other than a commitment by our athletes to do the things they need to do. Hopefully that translates into strong performances after the trip,” Louks said.

“Right now we’re great defensively, but we can improve especially when we see teams like Toronto and Ryerson later in the season. Defense does win championships,” Mastroluisi said. “I think that although we’re a good defensive team now, we have the potential to be great because our team is super athletic. In the first game after Christmas break we always go and dig the lights out.”

McMaster should come out firing after the break. A team already catching fire may pick up more steam coming out of the south. After their Florida trip in 2014, the Marauders went a dazzling 10-1 en route to capturing an OUA banner.

Their eyes are on that banner again. Here’s to hoping history repeats itself.

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