42 // VARSITY April 17, 2014
W
isconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield
called up his players after an early morn-
ing spring practice that was punctuated at
the end by serving drills; nonstop, repetitious serv-
ing.
Standing next to a large white dry-erase board
that reflected individual results, Sheffield, the 2013
National Coach of the Year by Volleyball Magazine,
delivered a message to his team, the NCAA runner-
up.
"My definition of mental toughness," he said, "is
moving on to the next serve quickly or the next play
quickly or the next set quickly or the next match
quickly.
"Some of our kids, when they were going back
there and serving, were having some errors and they
were carrying with them to the line."
He equated volleyball's serving line to basketball's
free throw line.
"When people are approaching the free throw line
at the end of games," he said, "look at their eyes and
their body language. You can tell who's ready for the
moment and who's not."
It may have greater application after a missed free
throw. What are the eyes and body language saying
then? "The great ones are locked in," Sheffield said.
"That was the message in practice."
In December, the UW players learned a painful les-
son on how costly service errors can be when Penn
State capitalized on most of them and won the NCAA
championship match, 3-1.
"When your best is called for, are you able to exe-
JACK
MCLAUGHLIN
