September 7, 2023 – Story and photos by Joshua Ross
Keeping with the fall sports trend this year, Hingham girls volleyball also welcomes a new coach to their squad, Jordan Lay. Coach Lay comes to the Harborwomen from the college ranks, most recently at Mississippi State. His 12 years experience at the next level, laid back southern demeanor and ability to connect with his players might just be the thing that gets the girls to the next level this year.
The Harborwomen had a very successful season last year, but disappointingly came up short in the playoffs. The reigning Patriot League MVP, senior captain Nora Schulze, and senior captains Nina Palek and Nora Andrews have high expectations for this season and are ready to put the work in with the new coach and new system.
“He’s really, really passionate, which is awesome,” says Andrews. “He always brings so much energy. He’s always excited to work with us, which I think is cool. It’s going well.”
Schulze adds that the team “will keep moving forward and adding new skills” to continue to advance the progression of the team.
“We are upping the pace with our games,” explains Schulze. “I think this will help us in the playoffs. To be quicker, have a more elevated game and beat better opponents.”
The coach isn’t the only new face this year. A number of new players replace the six talented seniors who graduated last year.
“We have a lot of new people joining the team this year, which I think is a good thing.” Palek says. “Everyone brings different skills and aspects to the team, which we need and value. So that’s only going to help us this year.”
For Coach Lay, everyone is new, but he seems to be adjusting well the first few weeks at the helm.
“It’s going really well so far,” Lay tells the Anchor. “It’s been a learning process – the girls getting to know me and me getting to know the girls. Things have been run really smoothly and I’m happy with the progress we’ve made and I’m looking forward to getting the girls playing a little bit.”
Even though he spent most of his career in the southeast and only recently became a New Englander, Lay is well aware of the program’s reputation and the pressure of coaching at Hingham High with some recent success of new coaches.
“I feel very fortunate to be coaching here. I know it’s a very highly touted program. Very well respected in the area and there are a lot of great legends that have come before me, so I feel a great responsibility taking the helm of this program, taking it seriously, and continue to process and move it forward.”
When asked about what he can bring from the college game to Hingham like a few coaches before him, he jokes about a certain soccer coach raising the bar.
“MF (Monroe) comes in and wins a championship right off the bat,” answers Lay with a smile on his face. “I definitely feel the pressure. I feel the pressure from taking on this role after who has come before me. What I think I can bring to the this program is an elevated state of training. I really want to focus those fundamental aspects of putting technical skill and technical combinations behind it. I really want these young ladies to know what it’s like to train at the collegiate level. Really push themselves and challenge themselves and not be afraid to go out and try new things and make errors. Take risks but ultimately reap a bigger reward from that. I hope to bring a really competitive spirit to the gym, which we already have and just looking to add to that.”
The girls are seeing these changes already on the court during preseason practices.
“He’s very serious and very much into the practices,” Schulze comments. “He’s introducing a lot of new drills and shifting our perspective on what we are doing on the court. He’s helping us grow as players.”
With most things, change takes a little bit of time, but things seem to progressing smoothly for the Harborwomen early on.
“Everyone is taking their time to warm up,” Palek says optimistically. “But we are definitely developing a faster offense, which will be better for us this year. It will take some time getting used to.”
The girls will put their new coach and new system to the test on Monday, September 11th at 5:15pm at home when they open their season with the always tough North Quincy squad.
SCENES FROM PRESEASON
