Two players, Gigi Stake and Veronica Kroha, from Keene State women’s volleyball have been playing exceptionally well this 2023 season. Stake is an outside hitter for the team while Kroha is a middle blocker. According to Coach Weiner, both excel offensively and defensively on the court.
Stake is a sophomore and majors in exercise science. She mentioned she likes to shop and go to the beach when not playing volleyball. Kroha is a senior and majors in environmental studies. Kroha said that she enjoys going hiking when it’s nice outside and when she’s not playing volleyball.
The volleyball coach, Bob Weiner, gave his input about the differences between the two. He said, “They are very different people, they worry about different things but they seem to really get along and honestly from a coaching viewpoint, from stepping outside it, that surprised me a little bit.” Considering the differences, Weiner said he was pleasantly shocked that the two hang out even outside of practice. Weiner mentioned that even if the two players are so different, being on a college team almost makes your teammates family.
When Stake was asked the question how her chemistry was with Veronica on and off the court she replied, “I love Veronica, she’s like the big ball of energy that I need when I’m playing and she just matches my energy so well. She’s a goofball like I am, so it’s really fun.” Therefore, even though Stake and Kroha have only been playing together for a short amount of time, they created chemistry on and off the court with the whole team. Kroha mentioned, “We laugh a lot at practice together… We joke on the court too; we stay focused but I think that just helps us both stay in a good mental state.”
Last year, the Keene women’s volleyball team won the Little East Conference (LEC) tournament and it plans to do it again this year. Both Kroha and Stake mentioned they were nervous, but in a good way, since the LEC tournament is right around the corner. Kroha said, “It’s my last chance to do this… It’s exciting to go in defending that title.” Even though Stake is only a sophomore she feels the same way. For example Stake said, “I hope that my team wants it as bad as I do.”
With the LEC tournament coming up, Weiner talked about the process of getting to that ready point. “We’ve made four significant lineup changes this year and they all worked around Veronica and Gigi… Right now we are playing about as good as we played all year, so maybe finally on the last day of October we are onto something,” said Weiner. He also mentioned that even though the lineup is centered around Gigi and Veronica, the team chemistry brings everything together. For example, Weiner explained, “We’ve got people on the team who will more or less watch out for Gigi… and only people can look out for Veronica.” Weiner said that Stake gets visibly angry with herself when making a mistake while Kroha is internal whenever she makes a mistake.
Ultimately, team chemistry is what is going to help the team win again. Stake mentioned, “My teammates really help me out and my coach really helps me with my mindset.”
Along with team chemistry, having fun is what helps Kroha. “I just love the game so if I’m having fun I’m usually going to play well,” she said.
Elyse Picard can be contacted at
epicard@kscequinox.com
