The phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" can apply to volleyball as well.
Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan believes her players have discovered a new sense of appreciation for the sport as the Lady Bulldogs took part in preseason drills last week.
"Things were good," Phelan said. "I think the girls were excited to be back in the gym, and there was this collective energy. This is a group that truly loves the game, but they were forced to take a pause from it."
Volleyball, just like football, was finally allowed to practice under Arkansas Activities Association guidelines last week after spending the summer under stricter guidelines because of the coronavirus pandemic. Phelan said her players continue to do some of those things they did throughout the summer, such as proper spacing and frequently cleaning the volleyballs during practice.
Meanwhile, these teams still have a lot of catching up to do and in a short time because of what they couldn't do during the offseason. Fayetteville has a benefit tri-match scheduled for Aug. 20 against Harrison and Springdale Har-Ber before the Lady Bulldogs are slated to open their regular season Aug. 24 against Greenwood.
"I think the kids have improved a lot over the week, but there is still this collection of unknowns," Phelan said. "We haven't been able to scrimmage and we didn't go to team camps, where we normally try different things with our rotation patterns. So our protocol was way shortened.
"We will have to learn some as we go along, and there are going to be a lot of unknowns. We don't know what lies ahead, but we are preparing as if the season will go on as normal. If there is a different directive, then we will have to adjust. The girls, though, are just grateful to be in the gym and playing again."
Bentonville coach Michelle Smith said the pandemic and the restrictions that have come because of it have caused her team to turn their attention to the volleyball basics. That isn't a bad thing, considering the Lady Tigers must replace 10 seniors from last year's Class 6A state championship team.
Bentonville has a benefit match scheduled next week against Greenwood on Aug. 20, then the Lady Tigers will behind their title defense five days later with a home match against Mount St. Mary.
"It's funny that we may have found a silver lining in all this," Smith said. "We have spent so much time in practice on fundamental things -- passing, defense, serving and serve receiving. But because we are a much younger team this year, we needed to focus on those things, anyway.
"We are not necessarily behind right now. I think, as far as fundamentals, we are so much ahead of what we might normally be. Now as far as scrimmages and rotations, we might be behind, but everybody else is in the same boat because of these restrictions. That's where my coaching anxiety has taken a back seat because I know we are all this together."
Henry Apple can be reached at happle@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAHenry.