Setting the tone

When the six senior volleyball players were deciding where to attend college three years ago, there was one trait about Buffalo that influenced their decision:

Buffalo was an underdog.

The desire to turn around a failing program and leave their own legacy is what attracted this class to Buffalo, and now with their final season looming, they have just one more year to take the Bulls to the top.

The class - which consists of libero Kelly Svoboda, middle blocker Carissa McKenna, setter Dani Reinert and outside hitters Christine Fritsche, Dana Musil and Kaja Schirmer - has had their ups and downs through their first three seasons. They are hoping their experience and chemistry with one another on and off the court will pave the way to a Mid-American Conference Championship and a lasting impact on the program.

The senior class has used UB's status as an underdog in the MAC as motivation to prove this volleyball team is different from past Buffalo teams.

"I didn't really want to go to a school who was winning all the time," Fritsche said. "I liked the idea of being an underdog and having to fight to be the top. I wanted to be on the bottom of the MAC and try to work our way up and build the program up. I think a lot of us chose UB for that reason and we're ready in our senior year to make that belief come true."

The seniors did not want winning to just be handed to them, and through their first three seasons, it hasn't. The team has gone 39-53 since the class arrived in 2010. The seniors, however, don't think of the past few years as a disappointment but a learning experience that will help them in their final season.

"It's been a learning process," McKenna said. "We were young and I think that gave us the ultimate advantage because we had time to learn and play out our weaknesses. Most underclassmen don't get that opportunity. I think it was a great learning experience for us."

Despite not seeing an improvement in the win total through their time at UB, there is no doubting the senior class has had a great impact individually. Several of the seniors have already etched their names into the program record books. Reinert is fifth all-time in school history in assists with 2,504 through her first three years. Svoboda sits at sixth in career digs with 1,309, while Musil is on pace to crack the top 10 in career kills by the end of her senior year.

The road to building a successful team has been more difficult than they may have originally thought, with two of their first three seasons being losing ones. But the seniors believe their time together has strengthened the chemistry between them, and it will benefit them in their final season.

The seniors know their first step in going out with a successful season starts with leadership - sharing their knowledge and experience with their underclassmen teammates. Despite the size of the senior class, they understand they will need contributions from every member of the team, regardless of academic year. No one senior carries the leadership responsibility by herself.

Svoboda and Reinert are hard leaders who push their teammates to their limits, while Fritsche and Schirmer are more quiet and lead by example. Musil is described by her teammates as someone younger players can lean on, while McKenna is the spirited leader of the group. McKenna believes having multiple leaders can benefit a team.

"[It's great that] we all take different leadership roles because then you always know what you're going to get out of someone and it's not just one person trying to overpower everyone," McKenna said. "Everyone is just equal and taking on different roles. That way you can play as a whole combination."

Five of the six seniors were in the same recruiting class in 2010, and they have formed a close bond off the court in their time together.

Four of the six members of the senior class now live together, and they describe themselves as 'best friends' and 'sisters,' nearly inseparable off the court. The seniors' friendship away from volleyball and what they have been through together have given them extra motivation to play hard when they step out onto the court.

"We've all had each other through the best times in the world and the worst times," Fritsche said. "So we're all playing for something bigger than ourselves. We're playing for each other. There's something special about this year because we're all so close and we know this is our last year together."

Thrown onto an older team composed of juniors and seniors, the class helped one another to adapt and mature in the college setting, relying on each other for support as they faced the demands of being a Division I student-athlete.

Schirmer is the only member of the class who has not been with the other girls for three seasons, as she transferred to UB from New Hampshire before her junior year.

"They really made me feel welcome," Schrimer said. "They were really welcoming to anyone that wanted to be a part of [the team] and work hard to change the program and have success."

Despite having only one more season to accomplish their original goal in turning around the UB volleyball program, the senior class does not feel pressure to win but motivation to prove their class can lead the way to a championship.

They are not only concerned with having success in their last year, but setting up their underclassmen to have winning seasons for years to come.

"What we've been trying to do since we got here is change the culture," Svoboda said. "We're trying to set the example for the younger girls so when we leave they know what it's going to take to continue a tradition that hopefully we start."

They are motivated to succeed not only for themselves, but for their teammates who have become more than just teammates. The difficulty to win doesn't faze them, because it's what brought them together in the first place.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com