#TeamWarwick athlete profiles: Volleyball

Both men’s and women’s teams are flying high in their respective leagues this season, so it’s only right that the University of Warwick Volleyball Club are featured in our #TeamWarwick profiles.

How long have you been playing Volleyball?

Veronika Vohlmuthová (Women’s 1s Captain): I have been playing volleyball for 12 years.

Simon Lawrence: I have been playing volleyball at a relatively high level for about four and a half years now, two of those at Warwick.

What drew you to the sport?

VV: It was my father who drew me to this sport. I fell in love with it quickly because I enjoyed it, as it was a team sport where the whole team almost feels like your extended family after a couple of games!

SL: People had always asked me if I played basketball because I’ve always been very tall, but my lack of coordination meant I never quite cut it and I always felt useless while playing. Volleyball on the other hand is a sport which also makes use of my height, yet somehow it clicked better with me and I’ve stuck with it ever since.

What does #TeamWarwick mean to you?

VV: The feeling of an extended family is the same across #TeamWarwick. You feel as if you’re a part of something bigger than just your team in representing your university. It makes participating extra special and I feel very blessed to be part of such a project.

SL: For me, team Warwick is about competing week on week to bring in great results. Seeing other sports clubs do the same really shows that we’re all working our hardest to represent Warwick at its best. This is certainly what I enjoy most about being a part of #TeamWarwick – when I can see the results of my team’s hard work I feel a real sense of achievement and pride.

Image: Warwick Sport

What do you appreciate most about being part of a Warwick Sport Performance club?

VV: Of course, we wouldn’t be able to perform without the support we get from being a Warwick Sport Performance Club. It benefits us all the time, giving advice and providing tailored sessions to enhance our performance.

SL: Having been part of Warwick performance last year and the development programme this year I can say that the university certainly feels the same way about us, and is willing to provide the necessary resources for us to play the best we can.

You’ve competed in Varsity before – what was the highlight of your Varsity game last year?

SL: In one of the most grueling matches I’ve ever played we beat Coventry in five sets and were then promptly booted out of the sports centre along with all of the crowd because we had gone over the 10pm closing time. The length of the match, along with the high standard of play and cheering crowd really created a moment that I hope I can relive this year.

It’s your first Varsity – how are you preparing for the clash with Cov?

VV: I’m very excited to experience the atmosphere. We’re lucky to have Coventry in our league and therefore we played them a couple of weeks ago. They have a very good team this year, so it will definitely be an interesting match worth watching. It also gives us the opportunity to tailor our strategy carefully prior to the game.

Do you have any pre-game/competition rituals?

VV: The ritual we have before each match is a swift motivational talk, quick update on the game strategy and then we start off with our team chants, such as “I believe- I believe that we – I believe that we will win”. This year, we want to be as loud as possible on and off court when playing our games in order to let our opponents know that we’re representing Warwick, we come to play the games at 100% and we’re there to win. The energy that radiates is what gets us the points and has gotten us though the season so far without a losing a single match #whoopwhoop #TeamWarwick.

SL: If we are playing away, then in the van on the way over we tend to stick on some tunes and get super pumped for our game. A favourite of the team at the moment is “All I do is win”, which aptly reflects our teams performance so far this term, and is something we hope to carry over into varsity and the rest of the season.

Thanks to Warwick Sport for their help with this feature Image: Warwick Sport