Photo by Russell Marwitz/True To The Cru/russellmarwitz.com
BELTON-In his six years as Mary Hardin-Baylor’s head volleyball coach, Mark Pryor has been at the helm of a number of talented teams. In each of the last five years, The Cru posted an overall winning percentage above .680, and three of those seasons saw UMHB win at least 24 matches.
With 108 wins as UMHB’s head coach—the second-most of any coach in program history—Pryor has a good pulse on the outlook of a team. And the 2024 squad, who will take the court in Portland, Oregon on Friday, has many of the necessary intangibles that make success at a high level possible; cohesion, exceptional volleyball IQ, confidence. But most of all, Pryor says, this team brings a versatility to the court unlike any team he has coached previously in Belton.
“I’ve got more versatility with this team than we’ve had in any of the previous years,” Pryor said recently. “A lot of our kids can play multiple spots and it’s not a problem. We’ve got a lot more kids who can play in the front row and the back row, which really helps us out overall. I think that even as young as we’re going to be, our versatility will be helpful during a transition period, giving some younger kids a lot more experience.”
Having versatility leads to increased depth on the roster, often a necessity for a team with postseason aspirations. The season is long, injuries are always a possibility, and 20 of their 29 regular season matches will be played away from Belton. But with multiple contributors able to step up in different places on the floor when their number is called, the impact of those potential hurdles can be mitigated.
“We’ve got some kids that see the game really well,” Pryor noted, attesting to the strong volleyball IQ of this group. “They’re not [saying], ‘I’m just a hitter or I’m just a defender.’ They have a really good experience level already, and most of these kids that we’ve brought in have played six rotations. So that makes it much easier for them to adapt to whatever we need.”
While the season opener is set for Friday against Linfield on the West Coast, that versatility and IQ was already made evident in UMHB’s two scrimmages against Blinn Junior College and Concordia (TX) in recent weeks. In the two matches, Pryor put a different lineup on the floor in each set, giving him and assistant coach Rylee Bales a good feel for how different players communicated with each other and which lineups proved most effective.
“We played five sets against Blinn, and played five different lineups,” noted Pryor. “Then on Friday we scrimmaged at Concordia, and played four sets with four different lineups. That’s by design. I want to see who is going to be able to do what and check things out so we have it on film.
“We got exponentially better from our first scrimmage to the end of the second one. And that’s kind of the plan. Sometimes what you see in practice isn’t always what you see in matches. It was good for our kids to get a chance to compete against somebody else; to see some teams that do things differently and see how we adjust.”
By nature, fall sports in Division III leave very little time for much preseason prep. The time between students arriving on campus and the day of the season opener is just over three weeks, meaning each practice needs to be maximized and cohesion must happen quickly.
And despite how young the roster is, that cohesiveness has already been formed inside the Mayborn Campus Center through the first weeks of practice. Pryor expects that dynamic to strengthen as the fall goes on, recognizing how well his squad already communicates. Additionally, not only have many of the returners shown steady progress from last fall to this fall, but the program’s incoming freshmen are also in a good position to contribute.
“I think we have potential to be a little more of a cohesive unit this year, and that’s really exciting,” Pryor said. “The team communicates exceptionally well, on and off the court, and I think that will add to the overall effectiveness of the program. There’s a lot of things they’re doing [that makes it clear] that they understand the game. And because they understand the game, things get a little easier.”
The importance of that aspect only increases in value considering how much UMHB will be on the road this season. The ability to stay on the same page, remain in rhythm, and maintain poise is critical, especially early on, when playing in unfamiliar gyms and against tough competition. In the first two weeks of the season alone, UMHB is set to travel 3,300 miles between four matches in Oregon this weekend and four matches in Superior, Wisconsin the next.
“We can still play at a good level even though we’re going to have a lot of things going against us, with the thousands of miles of travel, the newness, the youngness, the inexperience,” Pryor noted. “But because I really think this group is connected, we have a chance to have some success.”
There have certainly been suggestions that this could be a rebuilding year for The Cru. Hannah Frasca, a four-time First Team All-ASC selection at hitter, graduated following a senior season that saw her rank third in the conference in kills per set (3.20). Maddie Gillespie, whose 304 digs ranked second on the team, was also part of The Cru’s graduating class from last year’s 27-2 campaign. And Katie Warden, who recorded 277 kills last season, transferred to McPherson College.
But a look at the returning group invalidates much of that sentiment. As Pryor said recently, “It’s not going to be as much of a rebuilding year as a lot of people think.” There is no doubt that UMHB’s roster looks different this fall than it did a year ago. But because of a program philosophy that tends to give young players, particularly true freshmen, chances to succeed and gain comfort in game situations, there is a solid amount of collegiate experience coming back in the form of sophomores and juniors. UMHB may need to overcome some level of inexperience in the early goings, but it also shouldn’t hold them back as the season progresses.
“We’re returning three very physical starters,” Pryor said. “We’ve got some highly-ranked kids coming in that do things exceptionally well. If you’re good enough to play, you’re good enough to play regardless of your age. I’ve always kind of had that [mentality]. If the numbers show you deserve to play in practice, you’re going to play.”
That was seen last year with the duo of Natalie Hughes and Kendall Harrington, both of whom contributed significantly as true freshmen. It turned out well for The Cru, too. Hughes ended up tying for the team-high in sets played, with 95. Harrington won both ASC Freshman of the Year and ASC Setter of the Year. Clark averaged 2.30 digs/set and tallied 10 service aces.
Now in 2024, the experience gained by those two last season should serve UMHB well. Combined with junior middle Dravyn Hurd, who ranked in the top five nationally in hitting percentage for much of last season, the Crusaders need to be taken seriously. A somewhat similar situation was seen last season, when UMHB was picked third in the league’s preseason poll behind UT-Dallas and ETBU, but ended up winning the ASC regular season title and hosting the conference tournament.
“Dravyn was probably the most physical middle in the league last year as a sophomore, and she’s gotten nothing but better,” Pryor said. “When you’ve got those three [Hurd, Harrington, Hughes] who can hit and really put balls away for us, it’s going to make it to where we don’t have to rely on one person.
“Peyton Sedlacek has really waited her time after that first year and had a great spring. She’s really strong right now and is playing unbelievable on the front row and the back row right now.
“When you talk about replacing Maddie Gillespie, both of the kids we have right now that are looking to replace her both have unbelievable foot speed. They’re going to make some plays that we might not have been able to make before.
“Caitlyn Ellenburg came in and didn’t play a lot last year, but she also had a good spring and is ready to get a chance to get on the floor some. She’s been able to locate and connect with our middles and rights.
“So I think when you look at a lot of that, there’s a lot of reasons to be optimistic.”
Indeed there are. The quest for a second consecutive regular season conference title, and UMHB’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018, begins at 3:30 p.m. CT on Friday. A packed weekend schedule sees UMHB play two true road games, battling Pacific on Friday night at 9:00 p.m. CT in Portland and George Fox at 12:00 p.m. CT in Newburg, Oregon on Saturday. The four-match slate concludes with a neutral court duel against Willamette on Saturday evening.
“Those are regional matches that aren’t just neutral, they’re on the road,” Pryor said of facing Pacific and George Fox, both of whom are expected to contend in the Northwest Conference this season. “That is going to be a challenge. However, the biggest thing for us, and the way for us to get better, is we have to put ourselves in those situations.”
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