Wright State volleyball looks to keep rolling with new coach

“I was very clear when I first got here: I’m different. I’m going to be who I am,” he said. “Anytime there’s a coaching change, change comes with it, too. We tried to be mindful of that and not change too much. But at the same time, we want to coach the way we coach, and there are certain things that are different.”

Green, who was the top assistant at Mississippi State for four years, believes in a fast tempo and putting pressure on opponents, compressing the time between receiving the ball and sending it back over the net.

The Raiders, who made the program’s first two NCAA trips in the last three seasons, would never be considered plodders, but they’ve made an effort to pick up the pace through their 2-0 start. The Raiders beat Evansville and Marshall in the Marshall Invitational.

“The players worked a little on that tempo stuff in the summer, and you could tell it when we got together (for preseason practice),” Green said. “I feel good about where we are with it. Anytime there’s something new, there’s some bumps in the road. But we’re getting there.”

Credit: Erin Pence

Credit: Erin Pence

Matters, who took over at Illinois State, set Green up for success. Jenna Story, a three-time Horizon League defensive player of the year, and Lainey Stephenson, a former league setter of the year, are both in their fifth years on the court thanks to the extra season of eligibility because of COVID.

All-league senior Callie Martin is another stalwart at right-side hitter, so well-rounded that she seldom comes out for a breather.

The style change may have been an adjustment for the team, but those three have had little trouble picking it up.

“I’ll be honest: We threw quite a bit at them very early in preseason. But I think it was good because we had such a short period of time,” Green said.

“We talked about having a growth mindset. Anything that’s new is going to be a little difficult at first. But I’m proud of the group and how they’ve responded to that. They’ve been very open-minded and very welcoming to us as a staff.”

Story and Stephenson were the recruiting coups that allowed Matters to lift the program to new heights. The Raiders hadn’t had a winning season since 2003, but they went 15-14 in 2018 and then 23-8, 17-2 (in a COVID-shortened year) and 24-6 with the program’s first two HL regular-season titles and a tourney crown.

Story, a libero, is second in league history in digs with 2,319, trailing only Valparaiso’s Taylor Root, who had 2,752 from 2009-12.

The Louisville native has the conference’s fourth- and fifth-highest dig seasons, and she’s already blown past Jessie Thornton, who racked up 2,088 from 2014-17, for the all-time Raider mark.

“There are certain things players learn throughout their careers, and Jenna is one of the better players I’ve seen at just how balanced she is and how she moves,” Green said. “The movement and reactions largely stem from her balance and how she reads the game.”

Stephenson, who hails from Park Hills, Ky., had the second-most assists in the league last year with 1,179. She is sixth in Wright State history with 3,887 and could challenge record-holder Mandy Gels, who had 5,044 from 1999-2002, with a big season.

“Lainey is just a phenomenal leader. We could tell early on — just from conversations with her — how much she knows about our volleyball team. The joke within the department is how much she knows about EVERYTHING at Wright State,” Green said.

“But at her position, that leadership quality goes such a long way. And we’ve seen it in how she interacts with her teammates.”

The Raiders, who notched the league’s first NCAA tourney win by beating Samford in 2020, were in a tight race last season for the title.

Milwaukee won it by going 16-2, followed by Northern Kentucky (15-2), Wright State (14-3) and UIC (13-3).

The Flames, who left for the Missouri Valley Conference, won the tourney crown and earned an NCAA bid.

None of the HL coaches picked the Raiders to win the league in the preseason poll. NKU got six first-place votes and is the favorite, while Milwaukee received the other four.

Wright State is projected to finish third, which is ammo for Green.

“The coaches in the league probably saw there was some experience that left, especially in the middle. But we feel very confident about the players stepping into those positions,” he said, pleased with the production from junior Taylor Bransfield and freshman Aaliyah Byers.

“It’s kind of a good position to be in, right? No coach in the league selected us to win the league. We have to prove some people wrong.”