EF volleyball looks to continue winning tradition under new coach
By DEAN DELLAMALVA Jr.
MVI Sports
The Elizabeth Forward girls volleyball program has a proven track record for success in recent years.
Now, the perennial playoff qualifier has the return of a highly successful coach to look forward to in 2020, too.
Lindsay Lesofsky, who coached the Warriors from 2006 to 2014, returns to her alma mater after a five-year hiatus. EF qualified for the WPIAL playoffs and won multiple section crowns during her previous stint. Two players from that stint have returned as well to be assistant coaches.
“I decided to take off some time to have a family and focus on Junior Olympic volleyball,” Lesofsky said. “My two assistant coaches, Catherine Waters and Hannah Saunders, are old players of mine from EF and I am super excited to have them on the staff with me.”
Returning to coaching during a pandemic has been a challenge for many teams. The Warriors are no different as routines, workouts and normal schedules have fallen by the wayside.
“The pandemic has really changed the preseason routine since we started late and took some time off in August,” Lesofsky said. “On the days we did have conditioning, the girls were all working hard and adjusting well to the new coaching staff. When we did not have conditioning, we did Zoom workouts and provided workouts to the girls to do on their own.”
Working out in smaller groups has allowed for easier acclimation for younger players and have given the coaching staff an opportunity to evaluate.
“We did run two separate sessions each conditioning day to ensure that we stayed under the 25 (person) limit on gatherings,” Lesofsky said. “I believe this was beneficial so that we could get the younger girls ready to play at that next level while the older girls were just getting back into rhythm. This allowed us some time to work on position training and then bring the girls together.”
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