The University of Mississippi Athletics
Kvitle Looks To Set Up Wins At Auburn, Georgia
10/1/2009 | Volleyball
Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant
OXFORD, Miss. - It is not easy for a setter to run the offense on a Southeastern Conference volleyball team.
It is definitely not easy for someone who played as an outside hitter during her high school career and freshman year of college, acted as both a defensive specialist and setter for her sophomore year, then trained to become the primary setter for her junior season.
Just ask Emily Kvitle, the junior setter for the Ole Miss Rebels who looks to lead the team to a pair of wins this weekend against Auburn and Georgia on the road. It's the second straight weekend on the road for the Rebels.
"I feel like it was weird at first; and definitely uncomfortable because anytime you're forced to do something you've never done before - it's uncomfortable," Kvitle said. "I feel like my team has really helped me to get through it and my coaches have really encouraged me the whole way, so I feel like it's been a smoother transition now."
Kvitle replaces setter Rachel Keickhaefer, who posted four triple-doubles and 21 double-doubles her senior year and was named to the All-SEC Second Team by the league's coaches. Keickhaefer now coaches the volleyball team at Lafayette High School in Oxford.
Kvitle, a 6-foot tall exercise science major from Quincy, Ill., said she feels the team will outperform their opponents at Auburn and Georgia this weekend; hopefully showing fans the team's true colors.
"I expect wins, hands down," she said. "You've got to walk into a match believing that you're going to win and I really believe that we're going to take these two."
The team suffered two losses on the road at No. 17 Kentucky (12-1, 2-0 SEC) and Tennessee (8-4, 2-1 SEC) last weekend, losing in three straight sets to both teams. Kvitle tallied 24 assists against Kentucky and 29 against Tennessee.
The Rebels are now 6-8 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
"I think we're at the point where it's less talk and more action," she said. "No more talking about doing the job. It's about doing the job. We're all ready to play and to show people that we're not the team that we've been."
Coach Joe Getzin said the team needs to "right the ship" in order to turn things around and "get on the winning way." Kvitle explained that the team is at a point where they need to play selflessly in order to do just that.
"It's all about being selfless right now," she said. "I have to think about what's best for the team and how I can help them out the best I can."
Kvitle works hard to improve her skills every day, relying on her teammates to tell her what she needs to work on and how she can help them to become more effective.
"I'm still not satisfied and I want to keep getting better," she said. "I've told all my teammates that in order for them to be good, I have to be great. So I just have to keep working and working, and I have to keep getting better."
The setter has spent countless days training to fulfill the role that her teammates need, attending setter camps and spending her spare time in the gym practicing to perfect her game.
"At this level, you commit so much time and you commit so much of yourself to the sport that if you didn't love it, I don't see how you would do it," she said. "You have to have a passion for it."
"Growing up, I was always put in a leadership role because I'm kind of outspoken and I don't mind pressure," she said. "My freshman and sophomore years here were a little different for me because I wasn't a leader. I wasn't expected to fill those roles, and now I have my teammates and my coaches looking towards me to fill them. I think I take it on a lot more openly."
The Rebels take on Auburn at 6 p.m. Friday and face Georgia in Athens at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
