ncbears said:
The Zoom meeting was really good. Crosson said he tends to talk too much - and he did talk a lot.
In response to a question, Crosson said Cal is working on retiring Carli Lloyd's jersey - and is working on some reunion/commemoration of the 2010 National Runner Up team.
He did say that he considers Cal a "dream job".
Right now, everything is on schedule for Fall.
He briefly discussed the three announced signees from November - and says there likely will be 3 more announced at the end of April/early May when admissions is complete. He can't talk about those 3 recruits right now.
Team is allowed 4 weeks of 4 hours a week which he described how those are broken up. Biggest problem is going to be skills acquisition during this down time due to university closure. He mentioned the "law of harvest" where he expects each player will come back and show what they've done.
Forte is moving to Outside Hitter - and RS Bella Bergmark will be in the middle. Bergmark may be the best blocker on the team. Anderson will be focusing more on blocking - as well as keeping up her efficiency. .
Crosson prefers a 5-1 lineup - but will do what team needs to be in best position.
He said that the upperclassmen will be the glue this year - and he is asking them to step up to that role.
In a lengthy discussion about difference between being Head Coach and Assistant Coach, he mentioned about learning you can get a red card without using profanity.
Crosson talked about scheduling and gaming out the RPI system. He insinuated that playing St. Mary's last year really ended up hurting - a bit unexpectedly. He - and staff - are working on that. He said that Cal played too many lesser teams last year - and that hurt Cal's RPI.
So, next year's schedule is to open at Nebraska on August 28-29 and go to Hawaii September 11-12. Cal was the 4th team to be added to the Hawaii tourney - and that prompted one of the other teams to bail. Pitt replaced that team and another team bailed. So currently, it's Hawaii, Pitt and Cal. May be a fourth team. Cal may play Hawaii twice.
There is going to be a 3 year rotating tourney between Cal, David and St. Mary's. Each getting one home and one away game. That will the last pre-conference weekend, September 18-19.
For pre-conference weekends, Crosson would like to have 3 home weekends, but 2 and 2 is okay.
He gave a lot of praise to Feller - even if he and Feller had different philosophies when Crosson was an assistant. Crosson mentioned how he and assistant coach Amir may have different philosophies, but Amir knows that any suggestion needs to be backed up with data. Amir wants to bring more concepts over from men's volleyball.
Crosson said a team motto is "do your job" - this means a player doesn't have to be concerned with what others are doing. It will work.
Mima Mirkovic participated. There was some discussion about conditioning. Crosson thinks Beach players are well conditioned to play indoor - but reverse is not necessarily true.
Mima does have a "jump serve" and she may use it during the season - but that's something that is going to be worked on - and will be situational.
I think those were most of the highlights.
I can't imagine Forte moving to outside because she's a stellar middle and one of the best ones that Cal has ever had. She did really well at the position last season. If she does move to OH, it may mean that Makana Meyer, who is most likely to take over Maddie Haynes' role, could either transfer, quit, or be cut. Meyer was stellar when Mirkovic was out with injury and she is definitely capable of being OH #2 behind Mirkovic.
In addition, if both Mirkovic and Preslie Anderson used their jump serves, Cal would be unstoppable at the service line. Both of them have good jump serves, and if Crosson has them utilize an aggressive jump serve, the opponents will have no chance
