Give this a read. Those who have never gone to a volleyball match don't know what they are missing. These young ladies are tremendous athletes and the games are fast paced and enormously entertaining.
This is part one of our two part story. Part two will be an interview with Big East FemaleScholar-Athlete of the Year Shelby Manthrope.
We did not ask coach Yeager about her 2015 recruits as the school already did a story on that. The story will be linked after this post.
Reaching New Heights
by Zack Cziryak
Trove Sports
In her eighth year at Seton Hall and third as the head coach of the Pirates, Allison Yaeger knew right away that this season had a different feel to it.
"We had a lot to prove going into this season because I felt like we had a lot of unfinished business from the previous year. I'd never seen the girls so mad before," Yaeger said. "We had a lot of rising seniors and they had a lot that they wanted to prove. Even before the previous school year ended the girls came to me and said we want to win the Big East Championship."
Seton Hall head coach Allison Yaeger
The feeling would prove to be a premonition as the Pirates would wrap up their second season in the reconfigured Big East Conference with a 15-3 record and a second place finish, to go along with a 28-8 overall record, good enough for the second best win total in program history.
More importantly, the season yielded the program's first Big East Tournament appearance in three seasons, where they dropped a hard-fought four-set match to regular season champion Creighton in the final game, and earned the program's first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament, a first round loss to eventual national runner-up Brigham Young.
The Big East Tournament berth would mark the team's first since the current senior class were freshmen when Yaeger had been the program's assistant coach. While the team lost all-time digs leader and libero Alyssa Warren to graduation the previous year the returning players, led by senior all-conference players Shelbey and Stacey Manthorpe, came in with a goal to return to the postseason.
"Because we had so much success, a lot of people asked me the same question, 'What was the big difference between 2013 and 2014, because it was pretty much the same team?' In the past I always felt that we were on the same page but it really happened this year. You could just tell from the moment the girls stepped into the gym, you could tell they wanted to win a Big East Championship."
Although the team fell just short of its aspirations of a Big East Championship banner being hung in Walsh Gymnasium, a season that ended with the team's first ever NCAA Tournament berth also included a number of accolades and firsts for the program.
Among the honors earned by the program in 2014 were Big East First Team placement for three Pirates in the same season, both Manthorpes and libero Tessa Fournier; Big East Coaching Staff of the Year for Yaeger and Assistant Coach Allie Matters; and votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll; all three firsts for the program. The accolades continued in the post season with both Manthorpes, Fournier and Yaeger picking up American Volleyball Coaches Association All-East Coast Region honors as well.
While Yaeger deservedly took home coaching awards from both the Big East and AVCA, she credits her predecessor Kris Zeiter for helping to lay the groundwork for both the program and her head coaching career.
"I coached under Kris for five years and I learned so much from him," Yaeger said of Zeiter, who stepped down from the position of head coach in 2012 following three consecutive appearances in the Big East Tournament. "I always say when it came to the game of volleyball Kris was a genius, knowing how to scout the other team and how to construct a game plan. He taught me a lot."
In addition to his coaching acumen, Zeiter's recruiting strategy also laid the groundwork for what would become an increasingly-talented Pirates squad as he, with assistance from Yaeger, would target players who were perhaps a notch below the top players at big-time travel squads. The ensuing success, both individually and program-wise, would aid in tabbing future Seton Hall student-athletes from the same travel clubs.
"Our girls that come from big clubs have done well. Tessa played really well and our team played really well. Now all of those girls know the name Seton Hall," Yaeger said of Fournier's San Gabriel club team in California. "Where the twins (Manthropes) come from, Synergy in Pennsylvania, everybody says 'okay, we know who Seton Hall is, the twins played there and they were outstanding.'"
While the players she's recruited up to this point had obvious talent and have produced results on the court, Yaeger admits that her overall recruiting philosophy has changed with the success and accomplishments the program has achieved in recent years.
"It's hard now because I'm not settling for anybody with just good talent, I refuse to do that. I'm only settling for top players from top clubs meaning at times I don't always get positive feedback If I send out 50 e-mails now I get maybe 10 responses," said Yaeger, who previously would receive few if any responses from the top players. "Now our name is out there I wouldn't say recruiting is easier, but definitely our name is known and we're hoping to get some top recruits in the next couple of years."
As the team's results can attest, Zeiter and now Yaeger have clearly both had success in stringing together successful recruiting classes for the Pirates over the last several years. Yaeger claims the small-college feel is a major selling point for some young ladies, provided the coaches can get them to visit Seton Hall's South Orange, N.J. campus.
"The hardest part is getting recruits to come to South Orange. Once we get them on the campus they absolutely love it if they're looking for a smaller school."
The facility improvements that took place over the last several years, which include the program's own locker room, a new varsity weight room and sports training center, have made Seton Hall a much easier sell for recruits that visit the campus.
"What we have done in the last two years is blowing my mind. A lot of our alumni ask to tour the place. It's top of the line and I've been to other schools and have seen what big-time programs have and we are definitely reaching that point when it comes to facilities."
Having embraced social media as a recruiting tool, Yaeger is now able to make an impression on her targets before even hosting a visit.
" When we were recruiting the 2015 class I said this is going to be a frustrating tour because by the time you get here it's all going to be gone and it's all going to be new. Now that everything is near finished I can't get pictures up fast enough on Twitter. Social media is huge now our recruits can practically come on a visit without coming on a visit."
Also helpful in recruiting has been Assistant Coach Allie Matters, who was the first and only choice on Yaeger's assistant coaching wish list upon her being named head coach in 2012. Matters, who donned the blue and white from 2006-2009 and holds second place on the program's all-time digs list with 1,945, has made an impact in cultivating recruiting relationships and selling her Alma mater.
Seton Hall assistant coach Allie Matters
"A lot of people say we're very similar but we're very different. We recruit very well together," Yaeger said of herself and Matters. "A lot of the recruits like our personality. Once we get the recruits to come out here we usually get them."
This year's seven member recruiting class will be especially important as the Pirate program says goodbye to a talented six-member senior group led by the Manthorpe sisters and middle blocker Ashani Rubin
Despite the losses, Yaeger feels that the new recruits combined with some key pieces returning from last year's squad will keep the Pirates a competitive program moving forward.
"We did lose the twins but we still have a lot of young ladies that played major parts on our team that are coming back. We have some girls that have experienced winning and now that they've tasted that Big East Championship type experience they want it again."
"Once again I feel that we have unfinished business because we made it to the championship game but did not bring the trophy home. We will have a nice blend of youth and returning players, they all want to come in and play right away and that's good. If there's no competition going on in our gym I would be upset. It's one of my goals to make the girls compete every day in practice. Will it be challenging? No doubt. Are we up for the challenge and think that we're going to be good? Yeah, absolutely."
While 2014 was a landmark season on the court Yaeger is unafraid of the pressure of increased expectations placed upon both her and her program.
"I haven't experienced everything. I'm still a young coach and I open myself up to learning something new every single day. The program is getting better and better every year. I always feel that there's pressure and expectations and that's good. It gives us a goal to reach for success, individually and as a team."
With Allison Yaeger at the helm the achievement of those goals are certainly well within reach for her women's volleyball program.
This is part one of our two part story. Part two will be an interview with Big East FemaleScholar-Athlete of the Year Shelby Manthrope.
We did not ask coach Yeager about her 2015 recruits as the school already did a story on that. The story will be linked after this post.
Reaching New Heights
by Zack Cziryak
Trove Sports
In her eighth year at Seton Hall and third as the head coach of the Pirates, Allison Yaeger knew right away that this season had a different feel to it.
"We had a lot to prove going into this season because I felt like we had a lot of unfinished business from the previous year. I'd never seen the girls so mad before," Yaeger said. "We had a lot of rising seniors and they had a lot that they wanted to prove. Even before the previous school year ended the girls came to me and said we want to win the Big East Championship."
Seton Hall head coach Allison Yaeger
The feeling would prove to be a premonition as the Pirates would wrap up their second season in the reconfigured Big East Conference with a 15-3 record and a second place finish, to go along with a 28-8 overall record, good enough for the second best win total in program history.
More importantly, the season yielded the program's first Big East Tournament appearance in three seasons, where they dropped a hard-fought four-set match to regular season champion Creighton in the final game, and earned the program's first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament, a first round loss to eventual national runner-up Brigham Young.
The Big East Tournament berth would mark the team's first since the current senior class were freshmen when Yaeger had been the program's assistant coach. While the team lost all-time digs leader and libero Alyssa Warren to graduation the previous year the returning players, led by senior all-conference players Shelbey and Stacey Manthorpe, came in with a goal to return to the postseason.
"Because we had so much success, a lot of people asked me the same question, 'What was the big difference between 2013 and 2014, because it was pretty much the same team?' In the past I always felt that we were on the same page but it really happened this year. You could just tell from the moment the girls stepped into the gym, you could tell they wanted to win a Big East Championship."
Although the team fell just short of its aspirations of a Big East Championship banner being hung in Walsh Gymnasium, a season that ended with the team's first ever NCAA Tournament berth also included a number of accolades and firsts for the program.
Among the honors earned by the program in 2014 were Big East First Team placement for three Pirates in the same season, both Manthorpes and libero Tessa Fournier; Big East Coaching Staff of the Year for Yaeger and Assistant Coach Allie Matters; and votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll; all three firsts for the program. The accolades continued in the post season with both Manthorpes, Fournier and Yaeger picking up American Volleyball Coaches Association All-East Coast Region honors as well.
While Yaeger deservedly took home coaching awards from both the Big East and AVCA, she credits her predecessor Kris Zeiter for helping to lay the groundwork for both the program and her head coaching career.
"I coached under Kris for five years and I learned so much from him," Yaeger said of Zeiter, who stepped down from the position of head coach in 2012 following three consecutive appearances in the Big East Tournament. "I always say when it came to the game of volleyball Kris was a genius, knowing how to scout the other team and how to construct a game plan. He taught me a lot."
In addition to his coaching acumen, Zeiter's recruiting strategy also laid the groundwork for what would become an increasingly-talented Pirates squad as he, with assistance from Yaeger, would target players who were perhaps a notch below the top players at big-time travel squads. The ensuing success, both individually and program-wise, would aid in tabbing future Seton Hall student-athletes from the same travel clubs.
"Our girls that come from big clubs have done well. Tessa played really well and our team played really well. Now all of those girls know the name Seton Hall," Yaeger said of Fournier's San Gabriel club team in California. "Where the twins (Manthropes) come from, Synergy in Pennsylvania, everybody says 'okay, we know who Seton Hall is, the twins played there and they were outstanding.'"
While the players she's recruited up to this point had obvious talent and have produced results on the court, Yaeger admits that her overall recruiting philosophy has changed with the success and accomplishments the program has achieved in recent years.
"It's hard now because I'm not settling for anybody with just good talent, I refuse to do that. I'm only settling for top players from top clubs meaning at times I don't always get positive feedback If I send out 50 e-mails now I get maybe 10 responses," said Yaeger, who previously would receive few if any responses from the top players. "Now our name is out there I wouldn't say recruiting is easier, but definitely our name is known and we're hoping to get some top recruits in the next couple of years."
As the team's results can attest, Zeiter and now Yaeger have clearly both had success in stringing together successful recruiting classes for the Pirates over the last several years. Yaeger claims the small-college feel is a major selling point for some young ladies, provided the coaches can get them to visit Seton Hall's South Orange, N.J. campus.
"The hardest part is getting recruits to come to South Orange. Once we get them on the campus they absolutely love it if they're looking for a smaller school."
The facility improvements that took place over the last several years, which include the program's own locker room, a new varsity weight room and sports training center, have made Seton Hall a much easier sell for recruits that visit the campus.
"What we have done in the last two years is blowing my mind. A lot of our alumni ask to tour the place. It's top of the line and I've been to other schools and have seen what big-time programs have and we are definitely reaching that point when it comes to facilities."
Having embraced social media as a recruiting tool, Yaeger is now able to make an impression on her targets before even hosting a visit.
" When we were recruiting the 2015 class I said this is going to be a frustrating tour because by the time you get here it's all going to be gone and it's all going to be new. Now that everything is near finished I can't get pictures up fast enough on Twitter. Social media is huge now our recruits can practically come on a visit without coming on a visit."
Also helpful in recruiting has been Assistant Coach Allie Matters, who was the first and only choice on Yaeger's assistant coaching wish list upon her being named head coach in 2012. Matters, who donned the blue and white from 2006-2009 and holds second place on the program's all-time digs list with 1,945, has made an impact in cultivating recruiting relationships and selling her Alma mater.
Seton Hall assistant coach Allie Matters
"A lot of people say we're very similar but we're very different. We recruit very well together," Yaeger said of herself and Matters. "A lot of the recruits like our personality. Once we get the recruits to come out here we usually get them."
This year's seven member recruiting class will be especially important as the Pirate program says goodbye to a talented six-member senior group led by the Manthorpe sisters and middle blocker Ashani Rubin
Despite the losses, Yaeger feels that the new recruits combined with some key pieces returning from last year's squad will keep the Pirates a competitive program moving forward.
"We did lose the twins but we still have a lot of young ladies that played major parts on our team that are coming back. We have some girls that have experienced winning and now that they've tasted that Big East Championship type experience they want it again."
"Once again I feel that we have unfinished business because we made it to the championship game but did not bring the trophy home. We will have a nice blend of youth and returning players, they all want to come in and play right away and that's good. If there's no competition going on in our gym I would be upset. It's one of my goals to make the girls compete every day in practice. Will it be challenging? No doubt. Are we up for the challenge and think that we're going to be good? Yeah, absolutely."
While 2014 was a landmark season on the court Yaeger is unafraid of the pressure of increased expectations placed upon both her and her program.
"I haven't experienced everything. I'm still a young coach and I open myself up to learning something new every single day. The program is getting better and better every year. I always feel that there's pressure and expectations and that's good. It gives us a goal to reach for success, individually and as a team."
With Allison Yaeger at the helm the achievement of those goals are certainly well within reach for her women's volleyball program.
