Photo by: Steven Prunty
Sunahara Has WVU Volleyball In Uncharted Territory
December 04, 2017 12:12 PM | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University's women's volleyball team is in uncharted territory this season; it's still playing matches in December.
Usually, by this time of year Mountaineer volleyball players are getting a head start on their holiday plans or are already a couple of weeks deep into their offseason workouts.
The team had some success when it competed at the WVIAC level in the late 1970s, and again in the 1980s when it faced an Atlantic 10 slate, but the upgrade to Big East volleyball in 1995 was a serious reality check for the program.
In 17 years of competition in the Big East, West Virginia had just one winning season in conference play (1998) and made only one postseason appearance in 1997, dropping a three-set decision to Connecticut.
West Virginia's overall record of 66-146 in 17 years of Big East volleyball comes out to a .311 winning percentage.
So, when the Mountaineers made the move to the Big 12 Conference in 2012 there were clearly going to be some growing pains. New coach Jill Kramer went through a winless campaign that first year, but gradually built up to a .500 conference record in 2014 before leaving for TCU, her alma mater.
But the West Virginia roster Kramer left new coach Reed Sunahara was picked to the bone.
"Some people said, 'Hey, you've got to build a program' and I said, 'No, we're starting the program,'" he laughed.
That's basically where Sunahara, who took eight Cincinnati teams to the NCAA Tournament, was when he took over in the spring of 2015.
No players.
No tradition.
Nothing.
He immediately hired Liberty graduate Becky Rudnick and the two of them started searching for recruits. In the 2 ½ years they've been at West Virginia University, they've covered enough territory to become spokespersons for Rand McNally.
"My first year here the freshman class that came in, no one stayed," Sunahara recalled. "They didn't even leave to go to better programs. They just chose not to play because they didn't have the passion to continue."
Because volleyball recruiting works on an accelerated cycle, that means programs are actively pursuing high school freshmen and sophomores (as strange as that sounds), so Sunahara was really two years behind in recruiting when he took the WVU job.
Because all of the good players were committed, he had to take his lumps.
And he took them.
His first WVU team won just five matches and lost all 16 games in the Big 12. Last year, they won three in league play.
"Once we started getting kids, we got better," Sunahara explained. "Our second year, we got better, but if we had had the same year my second year here as we did the first, I don't think the recruiting would have been as good."
But they stuck with it and began getting some yeses that were once noes before.
This year's roster has kids from coast to coast and all points in between. He's got three from California, three from Ohio, two each from Florida and Colorado, and players from Michigan, Georgia, New York, Minnesota and Missouri as well.
There is also sophomore Natania Levak from Pazin, Croatia.
"Natania was looking at some pretty big schools, and I went over there to Croatia to watch her and she committed," he said. "We've been to all of these different places and Huggs (West Virginia's men's basketball coach Bob Huggins) makes fun of me all the time, 'What country haven't you been to?' We had to do it because we didn't have any kids."
Erin Slinde, a sophomore from Rosemont, Minnesota, originally committed to Iowa before changing her mind and choosing WVU.
And Payton Caffrey, another sophomore, showed more interest in West Virginia than West Virginia first showed in her. She kept calling Sunahara, and he finally made it down to Chuluota, Florida, to watch her play.
"When I did see her, I thought she was a little undersized for the Big 12 but she played hard, she had a good arm and she competed hard so we offered her and she accepted," Sunahara said.
What Sunahara has assembled is a melting pot of volleyball players from just about everywhere, and they've bonded to make this year's season a success. The Mountaineers won six matches in the Big 12, knocked off 14th-ranked Kansas to conclude the regular season and also had impressive season-ending victories over Texas Tech and Kansas State.
Sunahara believes the 3-0 triumph at K-State really put his young team in a great place.
"Kansas State was a good team and last year playing there we lost in five. This year going in there, Kansas State was playing better," he explained. "I didn't know what to expect, but we came out strong and took it to them. I thought our kids gained a lot of confidence from that match. Then we went to Kansas and the rest is history."
Since then, West Virginia has defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore and Temple in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship to advance to tonight's quarterfinal match against Syracuse, an old Big East nemesis.
The remaining teams include some familiar names such as TCU and Texas Tech, which the Mountaineers have already defeated this year.
West Virginia's 20-12 record heading into tonight's quarterfinal is only the second time in program history the Mountaineers have won 20 or more matches since their move to big-time volleyball in the Big East in 1995.
The other came during Kramer's fourth season here in 2013.
"We've got great resources here and that's the key," Sunahara explained. "If you don't have resources you can't build a program. Our strength coach, Beth Byron, is really good. She is one of the best in the field. Academically, Stephanie White and (sports nutritionist) Nettie (Freshour), all those things matter."
It also matters that he's got a group of players eager to get better and are willing to be coached.
"They're putting the work in," Sunahara said. "This summer was huge for us because, one, we went overseas and, two, they welcomed the six freshmen we brought in and made their lives much easier and made it more comfortable for them to be here. They've worked together and worked hard and it's showing."
Indeed, it is showing.
A 6 p.m. start time is slated for tonight's match against Syracuse, which will be live streamed on WVUsports.com. Tonight's winner will meet Ole Miss in one semifinal match.
The NIVC title game will be played on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at a home site to be determined. The championship match will be live streamed on ESPN3.
Usually, by this time of year Mountaineer volleyball players are getting a head start on their holiday plans or are already a couple of weeks deep into their offseason workouts.
The team had some success when it competed at the WVIAC level in the late 1970s, and again in the 1980s when it faced an Atlantic 10 slate, but the upgrade to Big East volleyball in 1995 was a serious reality check for the program.
In 17 years of competition in the Big East, West Virginia had just one winning season in conference play (1998) and made only one postseason appearance in 1997, dropping a three-set decision to Connecticut.
West Virginia's overall record of 66-146 in 17 years of Big East volleyball comes out to a .311 winning percentage.
So, when the Mountaineers made the move to the Big 12 Conference in 2012 there were clearly going to be some growing pains. New coach Jill Kramer went through a winless campaign that first year, but gradually built up to a .500 conference record in 2014 before leaving for TCU, her alma mater.
But the West Virginia roster Kramer left new coach Reed Sunahara was picked to the bone.
"Some people said, 'Hey, you've got to build a program' and I said, 'No, we're starting the program,'" he laughed.
That's basically where Sunahara, who took eight Cincinnati teams to the NCAA Tournament, was when he took over in the spring of 2015.
No players.
No tradition.
Nothing.
He immediately hired Liberty graduate Becky Rudnick and the two of them started searching for recruits. In the 2 ½ years they've been at West Virginia University, they've covered enough territory to become spokespersons for Rand McNally.
"My first year here the freshman class that came in, no one stayed," Sunahara recalled. "They didn't even leave to go to better programs. They just chose not to play because they didn't have the passion to continue."
Because volleyball recruiting works on an accelerated cycle, that means programs are actively pursuing high school freshmen and sophomores (as strange as that sounds), so Sunahara was really two years behind in recruiting when he took the WVU job.
Because all of the good players were committed, he had to take his lumps.
And he took them.
His first WVU team won just five matches and lost all 16 games in the Big 12. Last year, they won three in league play.
"Once we started getting kids, we got better," Sunahara explained. "Our second year, we got better, but if we had had the same year my second year here as we did the first, I don't think the recruiting would have been as good."
But they stuck with it and began getting some yeses that were once noes before.
This year's roster has kids from coast to coast and all points in between. He's got three from California, three from Ohio, two each from Florida and Colorado, and players from Michigan, Georgia, New York, Minnesota and Missouri as well.
There is also sophomore Natania Levak from Pazin, Croatia.
"Natania was looking at some pretty big schools, and I went over there to Croatia to watch her and she committed," he said. "We've been to all of these different places and Huggs (West Virginia's men's basketball coach Bob Huggins) makes fun of me all the time, 'What country haven't you been to?' We had to do it because we didn't have any kids."
Erin Slinde, a sophomore from Rosemont, Minnesota, originally committed to Iowa before changing her mind and choosing WVU.
And Payton Caffrey, another sophomore, showed more interest in West Virginia than West Virginia first showed in her. She kept calling Sunahara, and he finally made it down to Chuluota, Florida, to watch her play.
"When I did see her, I thought she was a little undersized for the Big 12 but she played hard, she had a good arm and she competed hard so we offered her and she accepted," Sunahara said.
What Sunahara has assembled is a melting pot of volleyball players from just about everywhere, and they've bonded to make this year's season a success. The Mountaineers won six matches in the Big 12, knocked off 14th-ranked Kansas to conclude the regular season and also had impressive season-ending victories over Texas Tech and Kansas State.
Sunahara believes the 3-0 triumph at K-State really put his young team in a great place.
"Kansas State was a good team and last year playing there we lost in five. This year going in there, Kansas State was playing better," he explained. "I didn't know what to expect, but we came out strong and took it to them. I thought our kids gained a lot of confidence from that match. Then we went to Kansas and the rest is history."
Since then, West Virginia has defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore and Temple in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship to advance to tonight's quarterfinal match against Syracuse, an old Big East nemesis.
The remaining teams include some familiar names such as TCU and Texas Tech, which the Mountaineers have already defeated this year.
West Virginia's 20-12 record heading into tonight's quarterfinal is only the second time in program history the Mountaineers have won 20 or more matches since their move to big-time volleyball in the Big East in 1995.
The other came during Kramer's fourth season here in 2013.
"We've got great resources here and that's the key," Sunahara explained. "If you don't have resources you can't build a program. Our strength coach, Beth Byron, is really good. She is one of the best in the field. Academically, Stephanie White and (sports nutritionist) Nettie (Freshour), all those things matter."
It also matters that he's got a group of players eager to get better and are willing to be coached.
"They're putting the work in," Sunahara said. "This summer was huge for us because, one, we went overseas and, two, they welcomed the six freshmen we brought in and made their lives much easier and made it more comfortable for them to be here. They've worked together and worked hard and it's showing."
Indeed, it is showing.
A 6 p.m. start time is slated for tonight's match against Syracuse, which will be live streamed on WVUsports.com. Tonight's winner will meet Ole Miss in one semifinal match.
The NIVC title game will be played on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at a home site to be determined. The championship match will be live streamed on ESPN3.
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