<p>Joey Thurman: The defending champion Aurora University Lady Spartan volleyball team. They were the champs in 2018, 2019, and a shortened season last year, and they're ranked number one this year. Let's go have a chat with coach, and I'm going to get involved in their practice. I think they're going on right now. I'm here with a man that's actually taller than I am, Coach Seitelman, Aurora University female volleyball coach. Coach, thanks for having us. James Seitelman: Oh, you're welcome. Joey Thurman: So we're going to go through some drills and things today, but before we do that, you guys are defending champions, right? James Seitelman: We are. We won the regular season in the COVID shortened year, and we are defending from the previous two years as well. Joey Thurman: Well, that's pretty good. You've been here for how long? James Seitelman: Nine years at AU. Joey Thurman: Nine years. James Seitelman: It's been a great nine years. Joey Thurman: And what's your favorite part about being here? James Seitelman: The players. Joey Thurman: Yeah, James Seitelman: Yeah, student athletes are amazing. Joey Thurman: All right. Now, do you still have some people coming back from your championship teams in 2018, 2019? James Seitelman: Yeah. I mean, our 2019 team, we have the player of the year in our conference. She was an all-American. So she's returning, and really a great group around her, my junior classes is pretty amazing. Joey Thurman: And obviously, there's mask mandates, all sorts of different things now. How do you feel like they've taken those requirements? James Seitelman: It's amazing how well they've adapted to wearing a mask, not wearing a mask, getting vaccinated, and all these different things that are the requirements now. The resiliency is pretty remarkable of the student athletes that we have. Joey Thurman: Well, and that's the thing that you notice. A student athlete, they just want to be on the field, on the court, on the ice, whatever it is. So generally they'll do whatever they can, right? James Seitelman: Oh, yeah. I mean, this summer, the work that they put in there for this season, they're really looking forward to it, for sure. Speaker 3: [inaudible 00:02:04]. Joey Thurman: I'm here with Sydnei Avery, all-American. That's pretty good, right? Sydnei Avery: Yep. Joey Thurman: Now, we're back on the court. What does it feel like to be back? Because last year you guys got stopped short a little bit, right? Sydnei Avery: Yeah. Last year, it was really disheartening to get stopped short. And so when we came back this year, our goals were just to stay and get the whole season. We're all really excited to be back. You can tell in practice. The energy is very high, and everyone's really excited. So it's a good feeling. It's definitely different than other years. Now we're in our full season. Joey Thurman: Now you're ready to go, huh? Sydnei Avery: Yeah. We're excited. Joey Thurman: And how is it trying to maintain a class schedule? And obviously you want to graduate, but also you want to keep your number one spot. How do you juggle all of that? Sydnei Avery: I think it's really just time management. You really have to be motivated to get your homework done before practice, after practice so you're not falling behind in school, and then that's affecting your practice times and stuff like that. So just staying on top of everything, getting stuff done, not procrastinating. Joey Thurman: I'm here with high school all-American, Lulu. You just started classes right? Lulu Torres: Yes, last week. Joey Thurman: Okay. And how is that going, making a transition from high school to being a college athlete and starting classes? Lulu Torres: Well, my senior year was mostly remote and I had a lot of breaks in between, so I had a little trial run of college, basically. So I've really been enjoying the schedule. Joey Thurman: And how have the girls welcomed you? Obviously you've got this big time incoming freshmen coming in, and did they welcome you with open arms? Lulu Torres: Yes, very much so. It's been great. We all get along super, super well, and we all spend a lot of time together. Joey Thurman: Well, that's good. And what's your thing that you're looking forward to most about the season? Lulu Torres: I know one of coach's big things is working hard, winning games. And I'm big competitor myself, so I'm excited to play. I haven't played an actual game game since my last club game and months ago, so I'm excited to compete again.</p>