With a brilliant interception, the score stood at 3-1. The players gatherd in a group hug with explosive applause and cheers from the audience. Nine days of fierce battle and sweeping nine victories to the championship!
Fudan University Women's Volleyball Team won the Women’s Final of the 2019-2020 China University Volleyball Association(CUVA) on May 19, marking the team's best performance in a decade.
“We had the confidence and ability to win.” Head Coach Liu Ting said. To win the championship is the dream of everyone on the team, but Liu never put such pressure on the players, but just let them do their best during the strict training.
“Try your best” is what Liu always says to the team. To prepare for the match seasons, players have to follow a tight schedule and practice at least five to six hours a day. For regular training during semesters, they train from 3:30pm to 5:30pm Mondays to Fridays, and sometimes they also train on Saturdays as well as national holidays and winter and summer vacations. Before this CUVA, the team went to Zhangzhou, Fujian Province for training early this year during the winter vocation and stayed there until the spring semester began. The training facility in Zhangzhou was used by the first Chinese Olympic female volleyball gold medalist before the Olympic Games.
It’s no easy task to get nine straight victories. Before each game, Liu would analyze their opponents via HDR videos with the players so that they could practice in a targeted way.
Due to the pandemic, the tournament was delayed for more than a year and the players were unable to carry out regular training. But they managed to do physical exercises at home or in stadiums at local middle schools themselves (if situation permits), and sent training videos back to their coach.
In Liu's eyes, the last final game is the most exciting one. “Sun Yat-sen University is our old rival and it was a fierce competition, but we did better this time.”
The one point lost to Sun Yat-sen University put some heavy pressure on the team at the critical moment as the girls were so close to the final victory. Fortunately, they adjusted their mentality in time and ended the game with 3-1.
When asked what is the team’s recipe for success, captain Jiang Yiying said, “Don’t feel worried when lagging behind and don’t be proud when taking the lead.
Since the team participated in CUVA tournament for the first time in 2012, it has been progressing from the eighth place to the fifth place in the sub-division match and finally won the championship this year.
The team consists of 14 players, a team lead, a head coach, assistant coaches and doctors. The players come from different majors, but they feel at home as if staying within a big family. When members assemble for intensive training, everyone eats, sleeps and travels together.
Head Coach Liu Ting and Assistant Coach Sheng Zhenzhen were retired members of the volleyball team of Fudan University. They also played on the field on behalf of the university. Now as the coach, Sheng feels she is shouldering greater responsibility, the older generation of Fudan’s volleyball team had great performance, and we will continue this good tradition.
The coaches are thus very strict with the players in regular training. When the girls fail to meet the requirements, they feel sad naturally. “Some may cry after almost every training, and sometimes a few members may cry together. Sheng said, But the progress our girls made after every match made the training worthwhile.
Liu also emphasizes team spirit. “The reason for our success is unity. We never blame each other when we play, because we are a team,” he said.
In the last match, ace spiker Xiang Pingting made a mistake at the beginning, but no one complained, they comforted and encouraged her instead. During general physical training, no team member will leave before the last person finishes her training. When the team members encounter setbacks or ups and downs, there will always be someone to take all of her trouble away.
It is unity, strictness and high requirements underling the tradition of Fudan University Women's Volleyball team that made the team hit one of their best records.
Source: Department of Physical Education
