Lauren Carter of Club Ignit Select and Winterset High School recently spent some time over Winter Break training with Team USA at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Prep Dig was able to get an inside look into the Class of 2022, Denver commit and her time training with some of the top athletes and coaches in the country!
December 26th (DAY 1) – My parents and I stayed at a family friend’s house in Longmont which is about 2 hours away from the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs. We arrived around 1:00 so that I had time to check in and receive my USA training shirts, water bottle, theraband and other cool gear. When I was done with the check-in process, my parents and I drove over to the dorms to unpack my stuff and get settled in my room. I was really excited to see everyone again because the girls I’ve met through USA are all such awesome people. I was a little nervous too though because of the anticipation of this camp but turned out to be no reason to be nervous because the second I walked in I was greeted by so many familiar faces. I got settled in my room, said goodbye to my parents and thanked them and joined all of the girls. We sat and talked together and compared where we were from, our high school seasons, the upcoming club season, our future plans and our personal hobbies. It was so interesting to hear how different each of our lives were, yet know that all of us have the same thing in common: love and passion for the sport of volleyball. A few hours later, it was time for training session #1. We all geared up and walked to the gym together. The view of the mountains was breathtaking and I took lots of pictures. Our first session was from 5:30-7:30. Before we began, the coaches introduced themselves. The coaches were Keegan Cook (Head Coach of the University of Washington), Alyssa D’errico (Associate Head Coach at the University of Dayton), Trent Kersten (Assistant Coach at TCU), Alex Dunphy (Assistant Coach at USC), and Eric Barber (Assistant Coach at Cal Poly). They talked with us about how the camp would function and what the USA expectations were. To start the session (and every session for the rest of the camp) all 36 of us circled around 2 huge whiteboards that had main goals for the session and elaborate models of the drills we would be doing. The main goal of the first session was to get to know the coaches as well as the new players around us. Keegan promised that the first session would be messy because we were playing with new people and learning how to communicate effectively. We went through a warm up and broke off to do positional training. There were a total of 7 setters at camp and Alex was our setting coach. During the session, we learned how to correctly release to the net from each serve receive rotation and what that should look like. I made a few minor adjustments to my footwork to match what was being taught which made my footwork look that much cleaner. Later in the session, everyone combined to do competitive serve receive drills that focused mainly on communication and footwork. Those drills took awhile to complete, but it was clear that everyone had improved. After training session #1, we went to the dining hall for dinner, which was AMAZING. I ate so much and I’m pretty sure almost everyone took advantage of the ice cream machine afterward. We walked back to the dorms with full stomachs. I showered and went to bed pretty early in order to get enough rest for the next day.
December 27th (DAY 2) – Because I went to bed at a decent time the night before, I felt fresh and ready to go in the morning. My roommates and I joined the rest of the girls and we headed to breakfast together around 8:20 so that we had plenty of time to eat before film session #1 at 9:00. On the way to breakfast, I propped my phone on the trunk of a tree and took a timer selfie with some of my favorite friends I’d met – Mele Corral-Blagojevich (Mizuno Long Beach), Gala Trubint (COAST), Breanah Rives (Florida Gulfside) and Rhian Swanson (University of Kansas commit). At breakfast, I decided to keep it simple. I had a veggie omelet, breakfast potatoes and a banana. My teammates and I walked up to the gym early in order to be prepared for film. We arrived earlier than most everyone else so we got good seats in the front row. When everyone had filled in, I took a huge group selfie and everyone was laughing at me because I took way longer than I should have to actually take the picture. During the film session, we watched a video of a USA coach talking about the main keys of passing and communication on serve receive. I learned about how critical the first contact is in order to stay in system, how the art of passing is all about angles, and the importance of communication before, during and after a serve from the opponent. Even though I most likely will not pass in a match because I’m a setter, it’s still good to gather as much volleyball knowledge as possible to continue to grow my IQ. The coaches talked alot about how being a USA volleyball player means that you work to be good at everything, but also work hard to be GREAT at your position. After film session #1 was over, it was time for training session #2 from 9:30-11:00. When we met at the 2 huge whiteboards, Keegan said that the morning sessions would be pretty light so that we could save our energy for the more difficult sessions in the afternoons. We then went through a warm-up and broke off into positional training again to start the session. Alex took us through setting drills that allowed us to get reps setting the go to the outside pin and the gap to the 3 zone for the middle hitter. Alex also went through USA setting philosophies that had to do with footwork and handwork. My biggest takeaway was understanding that setting a volleyball can be broken down into two main things: tempo and location. After positional training, we all combined again to form a big group. The pins were working on communication and angles in serve receive, so Alex had all of the setters split and go to different courts to get more reps setting the go and the gap. Training session #2 was very light physically but I was mentally drained from learning so many new techniques that I could add to my toolbox. We ate lunch and headed back to the dorms to get a good nap in during our downtime. However, my roommates Rhian Swanson (University of Kansas commit) and Elle Patterson (Boiler Juniors) figured out how to get Netflix working on the TV in our dorm and we ended up watching a few episodes of the Vampire Diaries and getting in a tiny nap before we had to leave for film session #2 at 2:45. After getting some good time of relaxation everyone left the dorms together. We arrived at the gym and jumped right into film session #2. We talked about the USA serving concepts and how important it is to have the same serving routine every time to be consistent. The example given by Keegan was video clips of Jordan Larson serving from the time she played at the University of Nebraska, to the Olympics of past years, to the VNL this past summer. It was amazing to see that her serving routine was literally the exact same in every clip, even though there was about a 10 year time gap. That kind of consistency is remarkable and I was inspired by that considering she is the best of the best. After we finished talking about serving concepts, we transitioned into training session #3 from 3:30-6:00. We did less of positional training and more of playing together. The middles were working on block moves and the pins were still working on their serve and pass game regarding communication and movements. As setters, we worked a lot on footwork to be able to get to the ball no matter how good or bad the pass was. Alex was really making sure we were transitioning correctly by watching our feet and she gave us lots of feedback which was awesome. Personally, I’ll take all the feedback I can get because that’s even more volleyball knowledge that will help me to improve my overall game. It was clear that everyone was exhausted but we all continued to give max effort and it was awesome to see that every single one of us got better every play. For dinner, I had the BEST mac n’ cheese I have ever had in my life. My roommates and I were in a food coma after eating so much mac n’ cheese so we quickly took showers so that we could hang out in our room and watch scary movies on Netflix. We had lots of time to hang out before going to bed, so we watched 2 scary movies and made Tik Toks with all of the girls in different rooms which was hilarious.
December 28th (DAY 3) – I was feeling a little groggy when I woke up and took longer to get ready than I normally do. I joined the girls and we made our way to breakfast before film session #3 at 9:00. I needed a little more fuel than the day before so I had scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, grapes and cottage cheese. At our film session, we listened to Karch Kiraly talk about why having a growth mindset is important and how it benefits us in our overall performance and how we look at the game. He compared a growth mindset to a fixed mindset to help us understand the do’s and don’ts of positive thinking. Listening to Karch Kiraly speak about how powerful the mind is was inspiring because he is one of the most accomplished players in volleyball history. We watched another video of Karch Kiraly speaking about how to improve our overall game by understanding how to read our opponents on defense. He described reading as the ability to perceive certain patterns which will increase the chance of winning a rally. We were shown short video clips of Team USA in base defense and we would pause the clip at the moment the opposing attacker contacted the ball so that we could see how the USA defense read what was happening in front of them. I’m a visual learner so watching team USA play defense was good to see so that I could make some of the same movements on the court. After learning tons of new stuff in film we moved into training session #4 from 9:30-11:00. It was a pretty light session physically as promised by the coaching staff but lots of focus was still necessary because we spent lots of time getting serving and passing reps. We began the session with some skinny court and it was super competitive and fun because every girl in the gym played with their own style. It was good for me because I was able to use my new reading skills to improve my defense. After skinny court games we served for a while, focusing on having the same serving routine every ball and being aggressive towards the passers on the other side of the net. It was a little rough for everyone at the beginning of the session but eventually most everyone seemed to have found their serve towards the end. I struggled with my serve and didn’t really find a routine that felt comfortable. When we met at the whiteboards at the end of the training session there were slots available for anyone who wanted to have some 1v1 time with a coach to work on serving. I signed up for a slot about an hour from the end of training so I went to grab lunch with a few other girls who were in the same slot as me. After a quick lunch, we headed back to the gym to serve. I was with Trent for my serving slot and even though it was about 10 minutes long, I gathered many new things that I could think about and use whenever I serve. I adjusted some things with my arm path and my serving routine. Trent was awesome because he gave as much feedback as he could, which really helped me to feel more confident in my serve from that point on. It was about 12:30 when I was finished. I walked back to the dorms by myself in the beautiful weather. When I got to my room, my roommates were already sleeping so I laid in bed and wrote in my notebook for about an hour before deciding to take a nap. I slept for much longer than the day before and I felt very energized and focused for the afternoon training session. We headed to the gym for film session #4 at 3:00. During the film session, we listened to Karch Kiraly again. This time, he talked about what it means to be a good teammate and how it can positively affect team success. We were asked to make of things we value in a teammate. I said that I loved teammates who are competitive, bring good energy, and hold themselves as well as their teammates accountable to be great. Karch Kiraly then showed a list made by the USAWNT that said what they love to see in a good teammate. They said that they loved teammates who did their job well, had a sense of urgency on the court, and communicated honestly. The main thing that I took from that film session was how being a good teammate means that you make an effort to be the best version of yourself every single day. That is something I can focus on so that I can get the best reps possible and make my teammates better by bringing my “A” game all the time. After the film session, we transitioned into training session #5 from 3:30-5:30. The main goals of the session were to transition every ball, play scrappy defense, and be a good teammate. We did a drill for a long time during the session where one side played defense against an offensive set. I kept getting burned sharp or deep corners from the pins and I had a few bad habits that needed to be broken. An example is when my pin blockers gave lots of line, I put my hands up early when the ball was actually just a hard hit ball at my platform. Eric helped me with my defense and gave me feedback to make my moves simpler and more purposeful. We ran drills where all of the setters played back row defense for a little while longer and I continued to improve as the session went on thanks to the feedback I was getting on the adjustments I could make. Training was cut a little short so that we all had more time for cool down stretches. The trainer had us each grab a volleyball and roll out with it, which felt so good and it was super fun compared to normal stretching. All of the girls were in a huge circle rolling out and talking to one another. Right when we were finishing up, the coaches came out of the room we had our sessions in and asked us all to come inside. They were being really suspicious so all of us were nervous for what they had to say. But little did we know that they were actually just excited for our reactions when we realized that they had Jordan Larson on the line ready to answer our questions and give us advice on how to be an elite volleyball player as well as an elite human being. When we heard her voice for the first time we all FREAKED OUT. I was laughing in shock and so was everyone else around me. Once we were a little more calm, Jordan introduced herself and gave her background story. When she was finished, Keegan began asking her questions for her to answer. When she spoke to us, she was so thoughtful and she gave us really useful advice for our future volleyball careers. She talked about how important being a good teammate is, especially when you’re entering new gyms all the time and meeting awesome new players. She talked about how communication with teammates, coaches, and family is key to success, both on the court and off the court. Everyone was leaning on the edge of their seats, literally hanging on to every word she said. The whole time she was talking to us, I still couldn’t believe that we were getting the opportunity to receive advice from her and that she was taking time to speak with us when she was in Tokyo preparing for a huge match! After Keegan finished asking questions, he allowed us to ask our own questions. I wasn’t chosen to ask, but my teammates still had really awesome questions I had been thinking about as well. After about 5 questions from us as a group, we said goodbye and thanked her for her time. I was so drained from the training sessions and from listening to Jordan Larson speak so I ate a big dinner. By the time my roommates and I made it back to the dorms, we were so tired we all just passed out. All of us woke up a couple hours later and showered. Since it had become a habit, we watched the Conjuring on Netflix before getting some sleep to prepare for Day 4.
December 29th (DAY 4) – When I woke up the next morning, I was very sore and exhausted from the days prior but I was excited for the last solid day of training before we scrimmaged each other on the last day. I woke up pretty early automatically and was up and going easier than usual. I went over to Mele and Bri’s room before we walked to breakfast so that Mele could braid my hair for training. I hung out there for a little bit and then everyone began to gather to walk over to breakfast. For breakfast I had a peanut butter bagel, bacon, grapes, scrambled eggs, and breakfast potatoes. It was hands down the best breakfast I had while I was at the OTC. Feeling very fueled and ready to go for training, we headed over to the gym as a group for film session #5 at 9:00. Now that it was Day 4 of training, we all seemed to be pretty comfortable with each other. I felt like I was at college already which was super weird to think about considering I still have 2 years before then. All of us had gotten to film early today so we had lots of time to talk with each other. To start, Keegan talked about the principles of hitting. The main focus was understanding how to put pressure on the other team while running offense both in system and out of system. Having the ability to put pressure on another team while out of system is really important because it could be the difference between winning and losing a match. We then listened to Karch Kiraly talk about how to have the most success playing floor defense. We watched video clips of Team USA playing defense and assessed their defense base/position and talked about why it was the best possible position to be in when the hitter makes contact. Karch said multiple times that the key to floor defense is having the courage to pursue EVERY ball because you never know if you can get to it unless you try. I really love that concept because I’ve heard lots of times that being a great defender is a mindset because if you don’t think you can make it to a bell then you never will, but if you believe you can get to any and every ball, you’ll get to most. After the film session was over, it was time for training session #6. To get warmed up, we did some more skinny court games to get our communication going. It got very competitive and exciting on my court because we were all pancaking tip balls and somehow digging bullets that were hit our way. It was a super fun way to wake up and get focused for the rest of the session. We then went into serve receive/freeball 6v6 drills so that everyone could play actual volleyball together and work in all of their skills. Thanks to my serving session I had with Trent earlier in the camp, I was feeling much more confident with my serve which helped immensely during the 6v6 drills because serving in and possibly acing the passers on the other side of the net resulted in points to win. My tempo and location felt much more consistent and as a result my sets were good, hittable balls. I struggled a little later on in the session when we slowed it down and went through certain rotations because setters would stay in but hitters would rotate constantly. As a setter, it’s my job to give hittable balls to my hitters but it’s difficult sometimes because every hitter needs a different ball to give them the best chance to succeed. Because of this, I struggled to connect with a few hitters here and there but I got better with receiving feedback from hitters about what they need as the session went on. When we met at the whiteboards to end the session there were slots open for anyone who wanted to work on either setting, passing or defense. The moment Keegan was finished talking to us about the plan for the afternoon, we all made a run for the markers so that we could get into the time slot we wanted. I ended up being scheduled to have a defensive session with another setter around 11:15 and a setting session around 11:40. We had ended training session #6 at 10:45, earlier than scheduled, so I didn’t have time to go eat lunch. I stayed in the gym and stretched and talked with the girls around me. I got to know a few other athletes better while we sat and talked which was really cool. At 11:15, Mia (another setter) and I joined Trent and Alyssa for our defensive session. Trent is 6’10 (a whole foot taller than me!) so he was able to stand at the net and hit hard downballs at us from the gap zone and the right side pin so that we could work on digging balls hit from multiple angles. I struggled a little at the beginning with the deep ball hit into zone 1 on my left but Alyssa coached us up and by the end of the session both Mia and I were able to get to balls we hadn’t been able to get to beforehand. Alyssa told us that if it’s a really hard dig to make, we didn’t have to try the dig the ball perfect but instead we need to hold our angles as long as possible to keep the ball in the court. That was a new way of thinking for me and I think it allowed me to make it easier on myself to dig balls that aren’t right to me. I transitioned from defense to setting with Alex and Keegan and I was with my friend Madison who is a libero. Keegan hit downballs at Madison and I set them to the outside pin, focusing on footwork and rhythm as well as finishing with my palms out and open instead of my palms facing down. Madison was told to dig balls everywhere to challenge me more. I received lots of great feedback from both Alex and Keegan which was great to hear. Then, Keegan began hitting downballs at me for Madison to bumpset. Keegan hit wild balls over my head and right on top of the tape which was fun because I’d been digging hard hit balls generally right to me all week. Keegan was hard on me about my base defense starting position so I’m pretty sure it’s burned in my muscle memory now. After that session, I knew I needed to continue to work on my red sets to the right side pin to get them more consistent for 6v6 play. By the time we were done, I was breathing heavily and was feeling very sore so I decided to finally take a visit to the recovery room. I got to use the Nanotec things on my legs for the first time ever, which felt pretty weird. I put my legs in these things that inflate with air and squeeze my legs. I took a picture of them because I wasn’t quite sure how to describe them. My legs felt really light when I was done though and walking back to the dorms was relaxing. During the break, I took a great nap and wrote a little bit more about camp. The break went by fast though so before I knew it, it was time for training session. #7. My roommates and I walked over to the gym together in the falling snow. Some of the girls from Florida and California were seeing snow fall for the first time ever! They were taking videos of it while most of the girls (myself included) were laughing at them. At the last night training session, we played lots of 6v6 mini games. The coaches let us go a little bit more than normal so the games progressively got more and more competitive. Everyone had improved their skills so much throughout the camp and it really started to show. My sets were beginning to feel so natural and easy when competing because I wasn’t think so technically about everything but just playing. I was connecting with my hitters much better after the rough morning session too. After a very competitive session, we were all super excited to play actual games the next day! I headed back to the room with my roommates and we all just collapsed on our beds immediately. I was the first of my roommates to get up and shower and they followed closely behind. We had lots of people in our room later that night since it was the last night we all got to stay in the dorms together. We all made Tik Toks, watched Netflix, and played funny games before going to bed.
December 30th (DAY 5) – I woke up early automatically, probably because I was excited for the last day of camp. Everyone was up and going already anyways because we had to pack our suitcases and help to cleanup our rooms before we went home. The final training session was scheduled from 9:30-11:30. We didn’t have a film session so we all had plenty of time to eat a good breakfast and prepare for live play. Walking to breakfast with the girls for the last time, I tried to appreciate the view of the mountains as much as I could. I wouldn’t get to have the same luxury back home in Iowa! I took my time eating breakfast and even went back for seconds before we left for the gym. While eating, everyone talked about how sad they were to go home, but also excited to see their family and friends again in time for New Years Eve. I was sad to leave all the good food (and the great training of course) but also very excited to be home and see my friends as well. I felt like I’d been away from home for a long time even though it had only been a week. Eventually, it was time to head to the gym. We all sat and stretched for awhile after putting on our gear. While we were stretching, groups of girls were splitting off to go make Tik Toks which was hilarious. Eventually everyone was teaching each other dances and even I joined in and I’m a terrible dancer. Together we decided that we wanted to make a Tik Tok doing the renegade dance for USA Volleyball’s Instagram story. We got into 4 rows and had someone play the sound for us. I’m very thankful I was in the 2nd row behind other girls because I was laughing the whole time and I messed up a lot. The coaches were shaking their heads and laughing at us the whole time. When we were finished, Keegan called us over to the whiteboards to start the session. We went through a warm up and then went into a drill that would get us moving a little bit before going into games. All 4 courts had something different going on. Pin hitters were hitting bics on court 1, more pin hitters were hitting reds and gos on court 2, middles were running gaps, quicks and slides on court 3 and liberos were digging balls and doing out of system setting on court 4. All of the setters rotated so that we were all on every court at least once. I did really well in the warm up drills and I was connecting pretty well with generally every hitter. Now that it was Day 5, the hitters gave great feedback to me about what I can adjust to give them the best ball possible. The communication was on point and hitters were absolutely bouncing the balls I was setting, which was a great feeling. Keegan called us all to the whiteboards so that we could look at the rounds we were playing in. I played 4 out of the 5 rounds which was awesome. We played games to 15 points to keep the session on time. I played with new people every round which was good because I had new weapons to set to and connect with. I was most proud of my defense because I had improved so much throughout the camp and it showed. I was much more confident in my serve as well and I was able to keep the other team out of system with my serve most of the time. I didn get very many hard blocks like I normally do, but I think that’s because of how good these hitters were with their shot selection. None of the hitters really hit straight into the block so I got lots of touched but I never roofed anyone. There were some great rallies on every court and the competitive energy in the gym continued to grow as the rounds went on. I LOVED the atmosphere and the high level of volleyball we were playing. My sets were so much more consistent than they had been before camp and I was very happy about that. It was awesome to get to know these girls even more as players because of their celebrations too. Some were quieter and just smiled while others would run up and get in my face and get super excited. I went 3-1 after we had played all the rounds which I think was pretty good. After we had finished all the rounds of play, I took pictures with all of my coaches and with as many girls as possible. Overall, I became a much better volleyball player thanks to the feedback I received from my coaches, the competitiveness of my fellow teammates and the quality reps I was given by being at camp. I met so many new girls and saw even more friendly faces from past USA experiences that I’ll be friends with for a long time. I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to be able to be trained by high level coaches at the OTC with other amazing volleyball players. I’m so excited to be able to see these girls again in the future whether it’s at club tournaments this season or this summer at USA!