 "Photo:")
In high school gym volleyball, most people hate being the one in the back digging up balls and bumping them in the air for their teammates. But Syracuse volleyball defensive specialist Joscie Kaup has made a collegiate career out of doing just that.
This past weekend in Akron, Ohio, Kaup broke the Syracuse all-time digs record of 1,791 set by Rachel Watson eight years ago. In light of her accomplishment, she was also named Big East Player of the Week.
This weekend, Kaup and the Orange square off in the Big Orange tournament at Manley Field House against Princeton, Fordham and Texas Tech.
"To break a school record, one thing has to be in common: they have to be a starting player from day one, and that's exactly what happened to Joscie," said SU head coach Jing Pu. "As a freshman, she already demonstrated some technique and made contributions to the team's success right away."
As a freshman four years ago, Kaup had no real goals in mind, let alone breaking a school record. Freshmen tend to have a hard time setting their own goals, Kaup said; they try to aspire to be like the older girls on the team until they know what is expected of them.
Most of the time, it isn't easy to find out what is expected from a coach, and in a large number of cases, players sit out their freshman year due to a lack of spots on the starting team or needing time to adjust to the pace of the game.
After a freshman year in which she stacked up 457 digs, Kaup decided that her goal would be to set a new personal high in digs each year. In her sophomore year, Kaup tallied up 514, followed by 685 last year when she broke the single-season record for SU.
Pu talked about the intricacies of her position - a position which Kaup seemed to master upon arriving at Syracuse.
"You have three different levels," Pu said. "One is you let the ball drop, another one is you touch the ball, but you have poor control. You need to get to the ball and control it to get it to a certain spot. She has very good reaction speed and was able to react to the hard-driven balls. Her technique was very solid."
Talking to her parents this past summer, Kaup realized she was going to need a lot of digs to break last year's record. As it is, she has broken the career mark only seven matches into the season and still has 26 matches left in the schedule.
Her family, who reside in Fort Recovery, Ohio, traveled to the tournament in Akron to see Kaup break the record. The Orange lost the match, though, so there was no celebration for Kaup's accomplishment.
"I'm excited to break the record and be in the books for having the most digs in a career here, but all of it comes down to your team and winning, and how many more games you play," Kaup said. "Even though it's my name and my number of digs, I still don't feel like it's me. It's about the team and where we get and when we get to the Big East.
"I'm sure that in 15 years it's going to mean a lot to me, but right now, it's this season and winning that really matters."
Since her freshman year, Kaup has grown tremendously as a player on and off the court. She was voted team captain in her junior year and shows up each day energized, hard-working, supportive, and she's a strong leader all around, Pu said. Kaup has become very valuable to the team, not just as a player.
Part of what has helped Kaup become so successful is a diversified and rigorous training program with Pu. Kaup works in the weight room to gain strength so that she is able to reach more balls. Once she had that down, the focus fell on being able to control the ball once she got there. Pu would take her through different angles, distances and speeds of incoming spikes so that Kaup was properly prepared for any type of ball hit her way.
In addition, just being around the faster-paced game for the past four years has helped Kaup step up to that next level.
Pu said: "Being a defensive specialist, it's a position where you really need to control the court in a certain way."
Be the first to comment on this article!