In this episode of the 35,000 Feet podcast, we sat down with the head coach of women’s volleyball at Wofford University, Lynze Roos. During our interview, Lynze gives a recap of lessons and experiences from the 2019 season, gives an idea of what we can expect from Wofford volleyball in 2020, and shares some of her international travel experiences with the team! Make sure to listen and learn from her advice and her experiences as a coach.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What the past season taught Lynze (0:20)

• What Lynze is excited about in the upcoming year (3:14)

• How Lynze got started in coaching (4:02)

• Lynze’s most memorable travel experience with her team(7:30)

• Something that no one knows about Lynze (9:11)

• Lynze’s advice to athletes who want to play in college (10:45)

• Lynze’s next adventure (13:15)

Recap of 2019 Wofford’s Volleyball Season

Lynze: We opened up with a lot of new players on the floor and so we started [0 and 6 00:00:01:06] honestly and it was a learning experience I think for everybody because that's a lot to deal with and everybody just wants to get that first win under their belt. So kind of turned a corner after getting some of those things ironing out and felt like we got maybe more into our groove and some players were playing different positions earlier on. And so while that was fun, at the same time, I know it was frustrating because players like to figure out their role and feel comfortable. So that was definitely one of the newer things that I've really never dealt with as a coach. And so just a lot of character building, we'll say.

And then after that, we just got into our groove and had a really good October, really good November. We got knocked out of our conference tournament early, which was disappointing, but we had some really good wins along the way. And so all in all when you look back at the body of work of your season, I think we definitely had some highs and some lows just like you said. But at the end of it we had a really great class of seniors that graduated and really put their stamp on this program. So that was probably one of the most rewarding parts of the year.

What to Expect from Wofford Volleyball in 2020

Lynze: We're just going to be brand new. I think that's the unique part of what 2020 will look like is we'll have news anchors out there and we'll have a new center out there, we'll have a new outside, the middle return, most likely our libero returns. So there are key pieces that are still out there but as far as just like our faces, we had four pretty much consistent starters, graduates, so we're just going to have a new look and I just think that is going to bring new energy not only from our staff but from the players themselves to get out there and prove themselves.

How Lynze Became a Volleyball Coach

Lynze: I was at education in an English major at Butler University in Indianapolis. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and I loved English and so it made a lot of sense and after finishing up my playing career and doing student teaching, it became really obvious that if you also wanted to coach, you were going to be at the top of the pile as far as getting hired. And so while it wasn't my career ambition, I thought I'd coach because I did do it throughout college. I coached youth club and camps and things like that. So I went into coaching and teaching and I taught three years of high school English and newspaper and had the opportunity because of an assistant coach that I had at Butler who took a head coaching job. She asked if I wanted to be her graduate assistant. And after teaching three years, I thought it was a great idea to get my master's because it would help me with my future and what I wanted to do.

So I left the classroom and went into college coaching at Sanford University for Michelle Durban, who was a new head coach there. And after two years I thought, I can never go back to the classroom. I can't grade another paper. I just want to do things. So, and I had just recently gotten married and it was, just let's see if I can actually get a head coaching job. And all of my husband's family and my family were all in Florida, so I just applied for a couple of jobs and I had some great opportunities. Took one at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. And so we moved down there and I was the head coach there for nine seasons, which I say that now and it feels like an eternity, but it didn't feel that way. I took over the Lynn program and was there for nine years and then we are blessed with two little people.

My son Lauren was born in 2011 my daughter Lyle was born in 2013 so after they got to a certain age, it was just a time for us that we felt like we wanted to move to a smaller community than South Florida. South Florida is amazing, but at the same time it's tough to raise kids down there because everybody's always on spring break. So we were ... and it's funny because my mentor Michelle Durban was still at Sanford. She is the SWA now at Sanford. And when they put out a search my boss, now the athletic director at Wofford is Richard Johnson, and he asked her who would be a good fit and she gave him my name and came upon, it was July 4th weekend and checked out Wofford and just fell in love and knew it was a place that I could raise my kids and feel like we are part of a community and it's been all those things.

This was my fifth season here. So I guess I've been coaching like 1 million years. It feels like it's a great community, a great college and just great area. You know, you can go hiking, you can get down to the beach, you can stay here. There's just a lot of things within a good driving distance to do.

Lynze’s International Travel Experiences

Lynze Roos: Well, we were fortunate enough to take our team to Italy this past summer and so it was a dream of mine to do it and it was kind of that bucket list thing to take a team to Europe. And I went when I was a player, I should not say the year, but I'll tell you. It was 1998 and you think of, logistics then, and not having the ability to just get on your phone and find things or this restaurant or plan or anything. So I don't even know how we accomplished such a thing, but we did it. And so when I went, I went to Northern Europe and I just knew as a coach it would be something that would be amazing to share with your team. So we made it happen.

We went to Italy this June, we had 33 people go. So it was my 14 players and then almost every player had a parent with them. And my husband was able to go as well. And it was just amazing because I had not been to Italy and it was great to see the girls not only try new things, whether it's food or get out of their comfort zone a little bit, but just we got to play. It was fabulous. So that's something that we're allowed to do every four years that we'll certainly try and do it again.

Lynze’s Advice to Prospective College Athletes

Lynze: Well I'd just say make sure you love it. I think that's one thing that a lot of kids, whether it's volleyball or soccer, any sport, music that they think they are supposed to do it, and so they just get on this track of what's next and there are times that kids get burnt out or they just don't truly love it and I think this should be the best four years in your life. You should come into college ready to go and by the time you leave I want my athletes to leave thinking, "I'm so glad I did that," and "I wish I had more time." So I think just making sure that that's your passion and that you love the sport.

There's 331 division one volleyball programs out there. There's division 2 and division 3 programs, the NAIA, there's just so many opportunities out there and if you love it, regardless of the level, find the right school, find the right fit for you, don't choose just the coach because coaches leave, coaches retire, all that kind of stuff happens. Find a place that you're going to be happy to be in that maybe again like is out of your ... cracks me up when kids say, "I want two-hour radius from home," and things like that, which I get you to want your parents to see it, but at the same time just make sure you're in a place that you really love and that you love doing your sport because you're going to be doing it.

Follow Wofford Volleyball

• Wofford Terriers Twitter

• Wofford Terriers Volleyball Roster

Podcast made in partnership with Acanela Expeditions

Theme Song - I’ll Just Be Me by Gravity Castle