Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Sophie Cole
After a season where the volleyball team reached the first round of the Landmark Conference playoffs, new coach Johnny Powell is looking at more than simply wins and losses.
When Powell first interviewed at Susquehanna, he was immediately drawn to the campuses’ “community.” He said that the team was a big part of his interview process.
“To see that they actually really cared for each other was a big thing for me,” said Powell. “They want to win, they want to beat some really good teams, and for that to happen it takes a certain mindset. I could tell they were on board for that.”
The new coach is taking the reins from Kuuipo Tom, who held the program’s top post for 22 seasons. In Tom’s tenure, the program reached the national playoffs three times.
Powell and his team are going into this season with a fresh start. They got new uniforms that they will wear for the first home game, and they are redoing the coach’s office to make it a safe and comfortable space for the girls to go if they need.
“We’re trying to grow this to be better than it was,” Powell said.
Powell was a successful head coach in his previous job at Harford, a community college in Maryland. The Fighting Owls reached the national playoffs twice in his six-year tenure.
When asked what he wanted to bring to SU from his old job, he simply said, “success.” He wants to evolve the program to bring the “pride” back to it.
The River Hawks are a young team this season. He believes some of the younger and more inexperienced players are feeling the pressure of being in close games now that they haven’t been subjected to yet.
“We’ve been talking about mindset a lot,” he said. “We’ve been doing meditation and listening to some videos and mindfulness things. The drills that we’re working on in practice are very mental… you’ve got to be able to focus in this moment for the execution.”
“The biggest thing that I’ve learned is to be a good coach you have to be adaptive,” he went on. “To the team, to the environment, and to what you are trying to build.”
He said that coaches have to understand that different generations of players are going to respond differently to various coaching styles.
“How can we adapt to this kids’ feelings, or what this player needs, with a team of 18-20 girls?” Powell said.
SU will begin Landmark play on Oct. 10 at Wilkes.