New coach enters season with sights set on improvement
Scott Swanson tells his team to make the most efficient choice in every situation, so his decision to take the head coaching job of South Carolina volleyball was an easy one.
Swanson was hired in February to replace Ben Somera, who coached the Gamecocks for four years but was unable to make the NCAA Tournament. Swanson arrives from Minnesota, where he served as the associate head coach on a team that has made five consecutive postseason appearances.
USC has seven NCAA Tournament appearances, with the most recent coming in 2002, but Swanson will face a challenge getting the program back to that level in 2011, beginning with today’s season opener against Montana in the Temple Invitational.
Last season, the Gamecocks finished 7-23 and 4-16 in the SEC. Five teams from the conference made the postseason, and Swanson said if USC can finish with a winning record, they should receive a bid.
“If we can get some breaks and stay healthy than I think we’ve got a shot,” Swanson said. “It’s going to be a building process, but that’s definitely a goal for us every year.”
Swanson interviewed for the USC job when Minnesota coach Mike Hebert decided to retire after 15 years and the school narrowed its search for a replacement to Swanson and women’s national team coach Hugh McCutcheon.
“If he would have turned it down, I would’ve been retained there as head coach,” Swanson said. “But [McCutcheon] ended up taking the job, and I thought maybe it was time for me to look for a head coaching job.”
Swanson has brought his own style of coaching to USC, preferring to talk about the positives instead of the negatives. He said he wants to empower the players to feel like they control the team.
“I feel like if they have ownership of it, then they’re going to take care of it and do the right things the majority of the time,” he said. “When you can get a group to buy in and they’re all pulling on the same end of the rope and believing in the same things, then you don’t have to yell and scream at them into performing.”
Swanson said the team is buying into his system, and they are enjoying the experience of preparing for the season much more.
“I think they look forward to practice right now,” Swanson said. “That to me makes a difference on how they’re going to play.”
USC’s top offensive weapon comes in the form of sophomore Juliette Thévenin. Last season, the Belgium native led the team with 350 kills, but as the season progressed, opponents began to realize the ball was going to her and started double teaming her.
Thévenin’s ability to put up points for the Gamecocks is unquestioned, but Swanson said he’s been teaching her to become better at other aspects of her game.
“She’s gotten better at defense and passing,” he said. “She’s learning to be a better blocker and learning to swing with more wrist management. She’s making less errors. She’s always had the skill set, it’s just about harnessing her game into a more efficient game.”
As Thévenin becomes a better passer, Swanson believes more options will open up offensively, forcing the opposition to cover other players besides her.
“She got set an awful lot last year,” Swanson said. “It’s hard to put balls away when everyone knows you’re getting the set. I think we have a few more weapons to choose from this year.”
Swanson is focusing on reducing the team’s number of errors. He said he’s seen improvement in that area, as the Gamecocks have lowered their error percentage to 10 percent. Teams that make it to the final four typically finish between 10 and 13 percent.
“Our general philosophy is to manage our risk,” Swanson said. “We have to be the type of team that makes fewer errors than our opponents do.”
Hanna Forst and Bethanie Thomas are two players Swanson expects to start, both of whom are freshmen this season.
“[Both are] pretty low error players,” he said. “They’re efficient at what they do. They can both play defense and pass very well. They’re very mature and professional in how they play the game and they’ve definitely shined as freshmen.”
Junior Taylor Bruns has been named team captain, and Swanson said she’s done a great job of making sure everyone knows their role on the court.
“She is non-stop,” Swanson said. “I’ve never seen a kid work harder. The kids see that too and that’s why she’s our captain. She’s that Energizer Bunny on the court. She’s all over the place, and you know you’re always going to get her best effort.”