When new volleyball head coach Marci Byers walked onto the Virginia Tech campus for her first day on the job in January of 2020, nobody could have predicted what the next 14 months were going to look like.
Byers made the short move across the New River Valley to Blacksburg as the winningest volleyball coach in Radford University history. Her first spring was quickly cut short with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which crippled her ability to work hands-on with her student-athletes.
“It was a year like none other just because of COVID-19 and having to work with that,” Byers said about the unique year. “We were on campus probably in the gym with them about 22 days or so, and we did get a chance to do a spring match with James Madison University, and then after that we got shut down until basically August from being able to work with [the players].”
One thing that never wavered was the buy-in from the team, something she is grateful for.
“The kids really bought into what we were doing, and if it had not have been for that buy-in, I don’t think we would have gotten as far along as we did,” she said.
The Hokies finished the season 6-11 overall and 5-11 in the ACC. They finished 12th in the league, up from a last-place mark in 2019.
Tech won the first match of the Byers era with a 3-0 straight-set victory over The Citadel and carried that momentum to a weekend split against visiting North Carolina, earning her first ACC win.
The Hokies next defeated Virginia twice, 3-1 each time, marking the program’s first winning streak against their rivals in over three years. At the time, Tech was 4-1 and 3-1 in the ACC.
After a win at No. 14 Duke, the program dropped its last three matches of 2020 and the fall portion of the season to stand at 5-4, 4-4 in the ACC.
By the time the team got back on the court in mid-March, it had undergone a pause due to COVID-19 protocols and was trying to find its rhythm again.
“It was really hard,” Byers reflected on coming back after such a long absence. “We started out in January not having everybody when we came back from our first testing group. We had kids who ended up being sent home in quarantine the very first day we came back to school, so that was 14 days. We practiced with what we had, and then we finally got everybody back after that two weeks and trying to go into our opening weekend. Then we practiced only to get ready to leave for Louisville and get shut down again.”
Losses to ranked Notre Dame and Georgia Tech and a 3-1 defeat at Florida State met the program on their return to the court.
“We got back and finally got everybody back going for our home weekend, and that was when we were actually able to see some things put together,” said Byers.
The Hokies got back in the win column with a 3-2 victory over Syracuse on March 21 with three players – Kaity Smith, Marisa Cerchio and Ashley Homan – tallying double digit kill numbers. That win would be the last of the 2020-21 season, however, as losses to Miami, Boston College, Pitt and Clemson closed out the season.
“We really felt like, even with everything that was going on, we would be able to finish somewhere in the 8-10 range in the league,” Byers said. “To finish as we did is disappointing, even though for the players who finished 15th last year, that’s an accomplishment for them.”
Still, despite the struggles of the unique season, there were some positives that Byers saw in her squad that serve as a foundation for her belief that Hokies and she will meet with more success in the future.
Asked about the positives to come out of the pandemic, Byers was quick to point out communication.
“It allowed us to be able to communicate more,” she said. “Obviously, it wasn’t in-person, but we were on Zoom calls a lot, FaceTime, that’s the one thing that’s changed in the last year. No one picks up the phone and makes a regular call anymore. It’s either Zoom or its FaceTime or Skype. You’re always looking at someone face-to-face, so that’s definitely changed. I think the communication started with that and changed.”
The program has gained some momentum in the offseason with the addition of two transfers, Griere Hughes from Iowa and Mekenzi Heckmann, who last played at SMU.
“Hopefully they can come in and provide some stability for us,” Byers said. “Hughes is coming from the Power Five level and she was a starter there most of her career, and then Mekenzi is a big, physical kid who we think is going to be able to help us right away.”
Tech is also looking forward to the incoming freshman class, some of whom Byers expects will be given the opportunity to play right away.
–VT Athletics
