Interviews
A glimpse into the history of the Gustavus volleyball program through two players. The first, Jayne Goehl Williams, was a graduate in 1980 and played on the Varsity team all four years. The second, Lisa Beacher, is a current member of the Gustavus volleyball team and she just completed her second year on the team.
2.Describe the daily practice as well as game routines and environments. What were the uniforms like?
“Practices were held Monday-Friday in Alumni Hall which at that time was a gym set up as 2 courts (with short serving areas and a very low ceiling!). We would have practice for 2 hours in Alumni, and be expected to lift and run the track in the Field House when our schedule allowed it. We had index cards to turn in with our weight lifted and running logs on them. At practice, we would do warm-ups, then game situation drills, then scrimmage, then icky conditioning, like wall jumps and burpies and line killers.
Games were played in the now demolished Field House, now a grass field between the Visitor’s Parking Lot and Complex. The Field House had a wonderful floating/elevated wood floor surrounded by bleachers over a dirt floor and surrounded by a dirt running track. The weight room (the 1st I’d ever lifted in) was at the North end of the Field House on a stage-like area, and only about 30 x 30 feet. During matches, when errant balls left the floor area, it could take awhile to retrieve them if they went down through the bleachers to the dirt. The Training Room was in the Annex, also demolished, which was next to the Field House. It had a small treatment room with a smaller adjoining room with 2 corrugated steel ice baths.”
3.Why did you decide to play at Gustavus Adolphus?
“In the Fall of my freshman year, I had intended to play volleyball and try out after getting on campus for the GAC Concert Band too. I made the Concert Band and I made Varsity Volleyball, but couldn’t at that time do both activities. Deciding to play for the Bees was the best decision I made my freshman year because being an athlete at Gustavus shaped my group of friends, helped me budget time, taught me exercise awareness and gave me a lifelong game to participate in and follow. I was not recruited from Edina West High School and didn’t communicate with Coach Koehler before showing up for try-outs after freshman year began.”
4.Any fun facts/memories from you time on the volleyball team?
“To encourage team bonding, every year Coach would assign the upper classmen to be “Big Bees”to the freshman or 1st year “Baby Bees”. This would mean P.O. letters of encouragement, social events together, a mentoring situation.
I received a Yellow Card once during a match for holding my hands up and signaling a choking motion to a line judge that made a clearly wrong call.”
1. What year(s) did you play on the volleyball team? What position? Who was your coach?
“There was a Varsity team and a Junior Varsity Team of around 18 total players. I played Varsity Volleyball at Gustavus for all 4 years (seasons ’76-‘79) under Coach Gretchen Koehler (Gail Hansen, junior year when Coach was on sabbatical). I was a co-captain my senior year. At that time, players generally played all around, with few substitutions, so I was front and back row, rarely subbing out and never the setter. Because of my height, I was best at and preferred front row, center spiker/blocker.”
“The team practices every day, Monday-Friday for two hours in Lund Center. We also lift weights usually two-three times per week, including some Saturday mornings. Usually two courts are set up for practice, with the rare occasion of one net being set up the practice before a big game to help simulate the upcoming match.
Game days were usually twice a week, with tournaments occurring on the weekends. Before any home match, the team gets together to eat a light dinner and then we all head down to the training room and locker room to get any necessary treatment done as well as get dressed and ready for the match. We begin our warm up an hour before the match starts. We also have a ball shagging/cleaning crew who during the games, make sure we always have a fresh clean volleyball to play with right away. After the game, all of the player’s friends and family are invited to a potluck style dinner in the Hall of Fame room provided by some of the parents.
Away games we usually ate on the bus ride to our match. We take coach buses to every match. Our athletic trainer along with coaches and coaching assistants all travel with us. Every once in a while after our matches, our coaches would stop for pizza or ice cream on the way back to campus.
Tournaments were usually played on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. Typically, each team has two matches Friday night as well as two more matches the following morning. So they were rather short but very nice to get the opportunity to play four matches. Similar to a regular match, each one was played the best three out of five games.
Our uniforms consisted of black knee high socks, black knee pads, black spandex and white as well as black uniform tops. My freshman year we had short sleeved jerseys but this past year, we tried out long sleeved ones which seemed to be quite a favorite.”
3.Why did you decide to play at Gustavus Adolphus?
“After looking at here as well as the University of Minnesota, I decided that I would still love to get the opportunity to play volleyball in college. I also absolutely loved when I visited here and it just felt like the right place for me.”
1. What year(s) did you play on the volleyball team? What position? Who was your coach?
“I am a sophomore and a current member of the Gustavus Varsity volleyball team. I am an outside hitter as well as a defensive specialist. My coach my freshman year on the team was Kari Eckheart. However, after a job promotion, the head coaching job was filled by Rachelle Dosch and this past season was her first year with the team.”
2.Describe the daily practice as well as game routines and environments. What were the uniforms like?
Lisa Beacher
The Gustavian 1980
