Delanie Cromartie is a starting junior on the Penn Volleyball squad. She and her team are seeking a sectional championship win and a state-run this year.
How do you think the new coaching staff has developed the success of Penn Volleyball?
I feel like having both the Hickey sisters in our program really helps the program tremendously. Rachel and Kaitlyn often say and coach very alike. The consistency of how and when you should do things is very important in my opinion. They’ve also brought many good ideas and drills to PVB.
How are you and your team preparing to win another NIC title this year?
We’ve had focused practices and about every week we have a different focus. For example, if we are focusing on taking care of the ball then we will do drills where if you don’t take care of the balls you will just keep going.
Having a younger team, how do you think the underclassmen play a role in your team’s development?
I think having the underclassmen being such a big role in the program will make us good years to come, especially since they all play.
Do you have a pre-game ritual and if so what is it?
We typically listen to music either in the locker room or on the bus depending if it’s a home or away game. If it’s a home game, we set up the nets, and then Varsity will usually go get Chick-fil-A or some other type of food. When we get back we do our hair and design our volleyballs to throw. Then we go help Freshman and Jv warm up. For away games, we pack our bags and sit by the pool and all talk. Once we get on the buses everyone starts doing hair and we all talk about our days. We usually do a lot of karaoke too!
After losing to Warsaw how does your team use that motivation to advance through regionals?
Since losing to Warsaw, I feel like we’ve gotten more motivation and fight. During practices we’ve been working on all the areas we didn’t do well during that game and have cleaned up certain areas of our volleyball.
How do you think your class leads the PVB team while being mainly juniors?
All of us juniors have been playing together for a while and are comfortable together and I feel like that brings our team together more.
Who is someone you look up to in volleyball and why?
Janet Moala because she was an undersized middle but then worked hard and got her vertical up to the highest in the school and then her height didn’t really matter all that much. She worked hard and is now playing volleyball in college.
When did you start playing volleyball and do you think how long you have been playing affects your performance?
I started playing volleyball in 7th grade and yes, I think i’ve had many years of experience and a lot of time to increase my volleyball IQ. I think it was the perfect time to start playing!
Do you plan on playing volleyball in college and if so where at?
If I get the opportunity to play in college then yes I would like to, but as of right now, I have no clue where I would like to go.
Having a newer coach how do you feel the Hickey Coaching staff has changed the camaraderie of PVB?
I think bringing Coach Hickey into the program was very smart and has made us ultimately so much better. She’s brought new ideas and new drills.
