The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
New approach gives Middies success
Midview opens up offense behind top player Frambach, starts 2018 at 3-2
Midview has already matched its win total from a season ago and, despite a couple recent setbacks, is showing no signs of backing down.
Last year, the Middies went 3-20 and had won a mere seven matches in two seasons heading into 2018. But with a new coach and a starting lineup complete with all returning varsity players, the team is 3-2 to start the year with losses to Medina, which plays in the ever-tough Greater Cleveland Conference, and last season’s co-Southwestern Conference champion, Amherst.
“It’s definitely a lot different,” junior Lindsey Frambach said. “Just more aggressive I feel like. We’re all kind of flowing on the court and we know each other. There’s trust now between us all that’s making a big difference.”
The bonds fostered after years of struggling have instilled that trust among Frambach and her teammates. First-year coach Deb Tomasheski said this team, while filled with familiar faces, could not be more different than that of even a season ago.
“They came out this year different players — transitioning, Frambach hitting harder, finding those holes, doing what we need to do,” she said.
For so long it seemed like the Middies had only one offensive option: Frambach.
As a sophomore, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter led the team with 151 kills (2.1 per set) and was tied atop the team leaderboard with fellow junior Rachel Spayd (1.6 kills per set) their freshman season.
Frambach has once again emerged as the Middies’ top threat, averaging 4.4 kills through 13 sets played, but is finding some relief in players such as Spayd and senior Alyssa Knipper, which has opened up a wealth of options offensively for Tomasheski to get creative.
“Spayd is a different player than she was last year,” Tomasheski said. “She’s one that we can go to when Frambach’s not there. For a long time I feel like we had one option. We don’t have that anymore. We have Spayd, Knipper, our back row is doing great things, and we didn’t have that last year.”
Tomasheski credits much of the team’s improvement to its commitment to the sport, with much of the team playing club volleyball in the offseason. But the players will tell you Tomasheski — who has been around the program in a variety of roles over the years — brought with her a different energy that’s completely shifted their approach on the court.
“(She brings) a calmness between us all,” Frambach said. “She’s always there
backing us up. We can always count on her, so it’s a positivity boost for us.”
“I think with it being a new season, putting everything from last year behind us and having a new coach and bringing the calmness,” Knipper added. “Just having everybody, having that resource to fall back on (has helped).”
Regardless of who the coach was heading into the season, the Middies weren’t about to let another season go by with three or four wins to their name.
The need to be taken seriously, the will to build a successful program and the thrill of winning were all factors that went in to this newly confident Midview team as the first weeks of the season played out.
“We’re trying to make it more successful for the generations coming up and showing them we can do it and we can change,” Frambach said.
“It drove us a ton,” Knipper added. “Just wanting to prove something to everybody that we’re different this year than last year. People come in and they think, ‘Oh, Midview. They’re gonna do this again,’ but this year I think starting off, we’ve proved something and we’re ready to prove it the rest of the year.”