Alan Van Ormer
Beacon editor

A focused group of Baltic volleyball players participated in a daylong camp on June 10 at the Baltic School gym.
“I think this is good,” junior Elisa Berndt said. “We’re focused on the important things here. I can see all the things being put together.”
Bulldog coach Danielle Eszlinger said the girls are really absorbing what they are doing. “Last year we focused on teamwork, it is nice to see the girls communicating and working well together,” she said.
There were 19 girls out on the volleyball court throughout the day. The morning session dealt with basic footwork and ball control, while the afternoon the girls spent time fine tuning their efforts and working on hitting and setting.
Senior Brittany Baysore liked the daylong camp because it allowed her to work on all the little things such as footwork and shuffling her feet to get to the volleyball ball. “The drill helped us get to the volleyball faster by shuffling our feet,” she said. “The shuffling of feet allows us to have better balance.”
Baysore said the drills help her improve on her libro position, which mainly consists of digging out the serves and when the volleyball is hit deep. “I worked on staying low,” she said. “In the back you have to stay low so you know where the ball is.”
Berndt said the camp also helps the older girls work with their younger classmates. “This is a preview of what the season would be like,” she said.
Also important to Berndt was teamwork and talking to each other. “We’re seeing more harmony,” she said. “It is rough, but it will come.”
For Eszlinger, the camp is an early refresher for her team. “We’ll be able to implement techniques sooner on our defensive strategy without breaking everything down again,” she said. “The girls are here focusing just on volleyball and really absorbing what they are doing.”