By Mike Pugliese
Assistant Sports Information Director

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - Thanks to the diligence of everyone on Bard College's closed campus, several varsity teams have been able to resume practicing - masked and distanced - in the last couple of weeks. Here, we check in with a few of them.

Women's Volleyball

The women's volleyball team was able to get back on the court last week following the pause throughout the winter, and despite all of the challenges and obstacles that have been presented, head coach Stefanie Carrington is excited to see her team return and is focused on what lies ahead.

It's been such a joy to get back in the gym with the team." Carrington said.  "I'm beyond happy to be able to provide these women the opportunity to play volleyball but, more than that, the opportunity to interact and engage with their peers, whiich is obviously something so many of us sorely need these days."

After speaking about the happiness of getting back into practice, the head coach says there are several goals that she would like to see accomplished while the team has this time together.

"This spring, we want to work on improving individual skills with the goal of coming back together as an even stronger unit for the fall season," she said. "We will be working specifically on ball control and contact while also trying to establish confident connections between our setters and attackers who have had very few reps working with each other so far."

Carrington says there will be a lot of opportunity for the first years and sophomores to step up during this time.

"Since our seniors are working hard on senior projects and our junior isn't with us in person (studying remotely), there's a lot of room for the first and second year players (there are nine) to establish themselves as leaders."

Aside from the on-court goals Carrington wants to see, there is one specific off-court goal she wants to achieve this year as well.

"Perhaps my biggest goal for this semester is to find a time and a way to honor the seniors who will be graduating from Bard this year. Since we didn't compete in the fall, we didn't host a traditional Senior Day and it's important to me that those players know how much they mean to the team and what an impact they've made on the program."

Men's Volleyball

Following a layoff of several months, the men's volleyball team returned to the court last week, finally getting the green light to practice after having the 2020 season postponed.

While it was a difficult situation for the team, head coach Adam Niemczyno says he believes that they held up well throughout the winter given the circumstances. "We stayed connected via zoom, chat rooms, phone calls, and virtual games. We had zoom team meetings, discussions over the current issues, team concerns, as well as successes and positives."

With the team resuming practice for the first time in a long time, Niemczynowicz expects it to take a little bit of time for the team to get back in sync, but there are some goals that the head coach would like to see accomplished over the next few weeks.

"I'd like to return to some normalcy, hopefully or close to it, and be in the swing of things so the students can enjoy the experience of being on the team, and to accomplish the goals they have for themselves and the team," he said. "We want to be the best we can be and have fun."

The coach expressed excitement for his team's desire to return following the long stretch of time off.

Overall I think the team is doing pretty well, and are eager to practice and get back on the court with each other."

Swimming

The swimming teams finally got back in the pool last week following months of inactivity due to COVID-19. Although the unprecedented circumstances presented several challenges, head coach John Weitz believes the team remained in good shape mentally throughout the process.

"We seem to have weathered the storm that was fall semester ... we even gained a few new members over the break," he said.

The head coach wants to take this practice opportunity to get his team to come together over the next few weeks.

"We want to reintegrate the team to routine," Weitz said. "It's been a long time since most of our team members swam. Just getting back into practice routine is both challenging for some yet soothing for others.  Either way, it is the beginning of a 'new normal' for us all."

Weitz believes that although the team is missing out on conference championships this year, he hasn't noticed any different in how hard they are training.

"Our team got back in the water (last) week. Normally at this time of year we would be putting the finishing touches on the team's taper," Weitz said. "I'd know that a week from now they would all feel great. Our conference championship would be finished, and they'd be proud of how they'd swum.

"As we all know, this has been a different year," he continued. "Here we are, just getting started when we would usually be finishing. We'll be swimming all the way through the spring this year, with an eye to a virtual meet at the end of the semester. Ironically, the swimmers still seemed the same to me, as if we were heading to conferences in a week.  Some felt great, some felt horrible, some felt confident, some were riddled with doubt."

Women's Lacrosse

Coming out of the pause that stopped teams from practicing throughout the winter, the women's lacrosse team was able to return to practice, and head coach Tucker Glass spoke about the roadblocks that presented themselves during this difficult time.

"The past 11 months have been challenging for every member of our team on a personal level," Glass said. "Collective and individual growth has been a struggle with the obstacles the pandemic has put into everyday life, as well as the restrictions on being in the same physical space as each other."

The team has been able to stay connected for the most part, having been able to practice at certain points of the year as well as meeting up virtually. They even got outside for a practice earlier this week.

"We have been blessed to have had opportunities to be together in the fall and more consistently this spring semester on the field, and have done our best to connect over Zoom during the periods of time when gathering together was not feasible," Glass said. "Despite the Zoom fatigue, our team has been able to begin virtual partnerships with the Harlem Lacrosse and Morgan's Message organizations under the leadership and coordination of our Assistant Coach Elaine Anton-Lotruglio, which has helped our team stay connected to our core values and each other."

Glass hopes to see the team build a strong foundation while they have the chance to practice together, and hopes to create a solid bond both on and off the field.

"We hope to create an environment at practice that provides hope to our students and an appreciation for the opportunity to gather and grow together," he said, "with the game of lacrosse being a catalyst for that journey of inclusive growth."