SALT LAKE CITY — Utah volleyball is wrapping up fall camp, which centered around culture and finding its identity, as the team has seen a lot of change this off-season.
Alyssa D’Errico took over as head coach following Beth Launiere’s retirement after a 36-year tenure.
“They’re a really, really tight group,” D’Errico said. “They have a lot of fun together. It’s a blast to be around them. They’re very genuine humans. They're great at giving to each other and showing up for each other, so I think it’s a resounding strength.”
D’Errico served as the associate head coach for three seasons, which, according to outside hitter Ashley West, helped with the transition.
“Every single day people show up for each other, and that stems from our culture, and people want to be here for each other to make each other better,” said West. “Just reach the same end goal and be Big 12 champs at the end of the day.”
“Alyssa’s amazing, I mean, she’s the best of the best, so it’s so fun to learn and get to play under her experience,” Utah libero Sierra Grizzle said.
“It was good, Alyssa already having such a big vocal presence on our team, it just, it made the transition so easy,” Utah outside hitter Kamryn Gibadlo said. “Especially, just, Beth handing the baton over to her, Alyssa, we’ve all looked up to her since getting to Utah.”
“They’re really motivated. They want to be great, and they do it for the right reasons. So I think it just makes it really easy to show up as a coach. It should be a really fun adventure.”
The Utes start the season against Weber State at the Jon M. Huntsman Center at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
