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Monday, October 6, 2008
Certain Assumption
Greater Louisville, KY
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By: Tom Lane
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Photo(s) By: Greg Yurkanin
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Every year, you can bet the Assumption Rockets volleyball team will have a target on their backs as the team to beat. It’s also a safe bet that the team will rise to the occasion.
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"Even when you have talent, which we do, you've got to mold them and get them in the right spots and get everybody feeling they've got a role. I believe it's the key to the success we've had."
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When you're a volleyball player at Assumption High School, especially a senior starter, you had better know how to handle pressure and expectations. "They expect a lot out of us,” says senior Whitney Craven. “Every team goes hard against us. We have to go hard back and work in practice trying to improve our game.”
Fellow senior Emily Hayden adds, "As you go up from freshman to senior, there's more pressure, but you learn how to deal with it. Other people see it as pressure. We see it as motivation. That's what drives us to work hard."
The man who created all the expectations surrounding Assumption volleyball is still the guy who teaches his players how to deal with it. Ron Kordes tells his girls, "When it's 22-22, you've got to think you're going to win...believe you're going to win. It's as much mental training and physical right now, just learning how to win."
Kordes is in his twentieth year as head coach at the school. An early-season victory pushed him over the 700-win mark for his career. The man is considered by some to be the godfather of Louisville-area volleyball, having also been in on the ground floor of the club volleyball boom in town. He has led to Rockets to 14 state titles, including the last four, and four national titles during his tenure. About eighty of his players have gone on to play in college.
"I've got a passion for it," says Kordes. "I like the interaction with players, watching them develop, seeing them do things they didn't think they could do. The kids make it fun. I'm not in position to play anymore, so this keeps the competitive drive going. I love what I'm doing. I'm fortunate I get to do what I enjoy every day."
Kordes is pretty pleased with what he's seen out of this year's team in the early part of the season. They lost to Muncie Central, but bounced back to win that weekend tournament, beating Muncie Burris in the final. They also split a pair of matches with pre-season number one Mercy Academy, winning in four sets in a best-of-five match on their home floor, then losing in a best-of-three match in the Louisville Invitational Tournament final.
The Rockets have nine seniors, but there were five starting spots open to start the season. And then there's making sure that all that talent meshes together. Along those lines,
Assumption took a pre-season trip to Myrtle Beach, in large part to bond as a team. Hayden says that was a key for a group that didn't really know each other that well. "The team bonding trip to Myrtle Beach, we all got so close. The team chemistry right off the bat was already amazing. All the team chemistry is what gets me through."
Senior Sarah Rogers adds, "it was a little rough in the beginning, but we've really filled the gaps. Everybody's stepping up and doing their jobs, so it's coming together really well."
"Even when you have talent, which we do, you've got to mold them and get them in the right spots and get everybody feeling they've got a role," says Kordes. "I believe it's the key to the success we've had...getting everybody pushing in one direction, even those that don't get as much playing time. They all pull for each other, they all like each other, they all respect each other. You have to have that no matter the talent or you're going to have a crack in there somewhere."
The goal for this year's team is the same as it is every year: Win the state championship. As for whether Kordes is slowing down after earning 700 wins, "It's a number," he says, "just another goal you set for yourself. I guess now I look for 800 and hope I'm around to get it."
Tom Lane is the sports director at WDRB-TV, Fox41.
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