Wittenberg Volleyball Team Prepares For Educational Trip To Spain

Head Coach Paco Labrador discusses strategy during a recent practice in Wittenberg's Pam Evans Smith Arena.

Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University's volleyball team annually travels the country in search of the best competition, a practice that has contributed to 14 straight NCAA Division III Tournament berths. For the third time in the last seven years, Head Coach Paco Labrador and his nationally ranked squad will take their game overseas with a 12-day trip to Spain.

Fourteen current Tiger players, Labrador, assistant coach Laura Jensen and team manager Lauren Henry will fly to Madrid on May 24. They will play matches against semi-pro teams from the Madrid area during the first seven days in Central Spain, before playing the Spanish junior national team on back-to-back nights in Soria and a club team in the coastal town of Valencia.

"Last fall, we had a lot of underclassmen who saw extensive playing time," said Labrador, who has a 227-35 record in seven years at the helm of the program, including a phenomenal 85-1 mark in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season play. "They have matured during the spring, and this is a great way to cap the non-traditional season and create momentum for the upcoming 2010 season.

"This is the ultimate road trip, and hopefully it will bring our team closer together while giving them an opportunity to continue to improve."

Head Coach Paco Labrador practices with his players.

Along the way, Labrador expects his players to absorb the educational opportunities and cultural experiences that come with international travel. The travel group will be exposed to different kinds of food, customs and traditions, in addition to sightseeing trips to such sites as El Prado Museum in Madrid, the Roman Cathedral in Toledo and the famous Alcazar of Segovia.

The team has hosted Junior Olympic tournaments and clinics to raise money for the trip in the last few months. The focus of the trip, which has become a tradition during Labrador's run as Wittenberg's head coach, is to build team unity, gain valuable playing experience against top-level competition and to experience a different culture.

The Tigers are coming off a 24-8 season in 2009, which included the 12th NCAC regular season and tournament titles in the last 13 years. In 2010, Wittenberg returns six starters, led by Amy Cox, class of 2011 from Newark, Ohio, a second-team All-NCAC honoree a year ago, and Katie Sumner, class of 2012 from Dublin, Ohio, who earned a first-team all-conference award in 2009.

"This will be our third trip to Spain as a program. Each season immediately following a Spain trip has included unprecedented success," said Labrador, who led the Tigers to their first-ever No. 1 ranking in 2004 and their only undefeated regular season in 2007, both just months after trips to Spain. "Every student-athlete who comes through our program will have the opportunity to travel abroad once in their four years (per NCAA regulations), which is something we're very proud of at Wittenberg."

Written by: Ryan Maurer
Photos by: Erin Pence

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