Jim Swing
Assistant Sports Editor
After a 2-13 overall start to a season, most college volleyball coaches would be overjoyed if their team was in contention to clinch a berth in a conference tournament. Not VCU head coach James Finley.
With the Rams in sole possession of second place in the Colonial Athletic Association along with control of their own destiny, Finley said he expected more.
“I’m really disappointed we’re not in first,” he said. “I just have that expectation of this program; I think without a doubt we are the most athletic team in our conference, and I think we let a couple of games get away from us that put us in this position.”
Carrying a 9-4 conference record, VCU will take on its most important game of the season Friday in its final CAA match against the Tribe of William & Mary. If the Rams can pull off a win against a struggling Tribe team (10-15, 4-9) who has lost their last three straight, they will clinch a spot in the CAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years.
“We’ve talked about how important every game is for the past four weeks, and they know,” Finley said. “I don’t think I have to motivate or focus the girls; they’re ready to come in and play and are very excited about having the opportunity to compete for a championship.”
If VCU cannot come away with a win against William & Mary, it will lose control of its destiny and await final scores from around the league, jeopardizing its chances of finishing in the top four and securing a spot at the CAA Tournament.
From a 2-13 start to a 9-4 in-conference record, the Rams have found themselves in the midst of a vicious conference race, one spot ahead of a four-way tie for third and fourth place.
No matter what the outcome is, Finley admits that the way things have turned out throughout the course of the season has been pure bliss.
“It’s been really fun because we had a place where our confidence was a little shaken, and yet they could see the things and say the things that they had learned by playing such good competition,” Finley said. “But nothing makes you feel more confident and can grow you more than winning, and as we got a little success under our feet, then came the confidence.”
As competition heats up in the late stages of the season, there are still improvements to be made on the court for the Rams, who sit at the bottom of the conference in service aces and kills.
“We want to improve mostly on consistency and be extremely aggressive with what we do,” Finley said. “We want to control the little things of the game, and that’s the thing with a young team as there’s little things with ball control that you know you’re going to have trouble with at times.”
The Rams will look to fix their mistakes in a timely fashion for the final three games of the season, including two final out-of-conference games at home against a stumbling Hampton team (7-23, 3-7) on senior night and contending Albany (N.Y.) (18-7, 8-2), which sits atop the American East conference.
The matchup against Albany is scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend to fill in a two-week gap between the end of the CAA Tournament and the start of the NCAA Tournament in expectation that VCU will be preparing for NCAA contention.
Coach Finley’s confidence and expectations for his team go beyond the regular season however.
“Our expectation as a program is that we will get a NCAA bid,” Finley said. “It’s very important, and Albany is a great team for us as a warm-up going into the NCAA Tournament.”