Communication is key and honesty is the best policy.

Those are two mottos that relate to life, but are common practice in team sports, especially SIU volleyball.

“I don’t think there’s another sport that has six people in such close proximity to each other,” Saluki coach Justin Ingram said.

Ingram said the best volleyball teams communicate before, during and after every play.

“[Communication] is so valuable that it might be as, or more important than actual skill sets such as jumping and hitting,” Ingram said.

The Salukis have five international players. Sophomore hitter/setter Meg Viggars is the only international player from a country where English is the dominant language.

“We’re bringing in people from different cultures, to where English isn’t their first language,” Ingram said. “So we’re really having to over-communicate to make sure all the understanding is there for the system that we’re running.”

Ingram said some freshmen tend to think their voices do not mean as much as upperclassmen. He said he wants to instill a sense of unity, where all voices are equally important.

He said sophomore middle hitter McKenzie Dorris is one of the better communicators on the team, but she was a lot quieter last year. He said she has a fun personality that makes it easy for her to cooperate with teammates.

“I was always the loudest on the court in high school,” Dorris said. “My coach really, especially my senior year when I was captain, he was like, ‘You need to be a leader out there. You need to make sure everyone knows what’s going to happen on the other side of the net.’”

Dorris can be seen pointing out which opposing players to watch out for before plays, telling teammates where to go during plays and telling her setter if she liked the set or not afterward.

Dorris said she has a good relationship with the setters, sophomore Hannah Kaminsky and Viggars. Dorris said she is honest with the setters and both positions accept feedback from one another.

“You have to constantly be talking to [the hitters], especially as a setter,” Kaminsky said. “You need to know where they need the set.”

While Dorris is arguably the most effective hitter, she might not be the loudest. Freshman middle hitter Anna Himan can be heard yelling plays in the middle of a rally.

“I have a voice that carries,” Himan said. “I try and communicate what I can. Sometimes I don’t see it, but when I do see it, I make sure it’s loud.”

She said her role is to call out numbers, which tell players where to be on the court at certain times.

“If you’re on a team that does not talk, there’s no excitement,” Himan said. “You have no momentum if you don’t talk. It makes it so much easier if you do communicate because you’re aware of where everyone else is and where they’re running.”

Himan said all the hitters make the same calls as her; she just has a loud voice. Himan said she looks up to junior hitter Taylor Pippen, and has learned a lot from her during her time at SIU.

Ingram said it is crucial the team be honest with each other when something is not right.

“You have to be able to accept feedback from others,” Ingram said. “You have to be able to give feedback to others.”

Kaminsky said great communication will win a close match.

“It’s such a fast paced sport,” Dorris said. “If two people aren’t on the same page then the ball is going to drop, and we’re going to lose the point.”

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected], on Twitter @Aarongraff_DE or 536-3311 ext. 269