Sitting down with XU Volleyball

The Xavier Newswire's Tim Wilmes sat down with Xavier volleyball's junior outside hitters Sarah Brown and Kelsey Dunaway to get the inside scoop on Xavier volleyball.

• Xavier Newswire: How do you think the season has been going so far?
• Sarah Brown: At this point, our record isn't what we want it to be, because we didn't do as well as we wanted to in the preseason. But now with conference [games] starting, we know what we need to improve on in practices. We know the areas that we need to improve on from the preseason, and that's helped us a lot.
• Kelsey Dunaway: I think the best thing about the preseason was that we played harder teams than we have ever played, so that really helped us realize all of the things that we needed to work on. Going into conference, we have such a long list of things to work on and it's making us better in conference. 
• Sarah Brown: Definitely. I think we'll be really good, as long as we keep improving every day and keep having fun. The more we have fun, the better we do.
• XN: What's been your greatest area of growth for each of you from freshmanyear until now?
• KD: Technically, I've improved on my range of shots. Instead of just being able to hit down the line, now I can hit [a variety of shots]. Other than that, I think I've become a better leader on the team. I feel like I have more of a voice now that I'm older and know what I'm doing.
• SB: Going along with that, because we're juniors now, we have more of a voice. When we were freshmen, we kind of held everything back and wouldn't say anything. Personally, for me, I honestly think that I've gotten better at every aspect of my game. I play front row and back row, so there's always something that I need to work on. [Our coach] Mike [Johnson] always has tasks no matter what. There's no, "Okay, you've achieved this goal, you're done." There's always something more you can get better at.
• XN: How mentally and physically taxing is it to play a Division I sport?
• KD: It's really hard work, but the love for the game completely overrules all of it. We have to push our bodies every single day, but we're also having fun while we're doing it.
• SB: One of our reasons for doing this, why we're here as part of Xavier volleyball, is for the love of the game. I do think that overrides everything about how sore you are. It is mentally and physically exhausting, but you've got to love it to do it.
• XN: Do you have a favorite song that you've listened to recently?
• KD: Our team's favorite song right now is "Major Lazers" by Original Don. We're obsessed with it and play it every time we're in the locker room.
• SB: I've been listening to "Sunshine" by Matisyahu. It gets me really pumped up and happy.
• XN: Do you have a favorite pregame meal or ritual?
• KD: We love dancing in the locker room. We also absolutely love these waffles we get. They're not breakfast waffles; they're basically energy waffles made out of energy bars. We eat them before every game - we're obsessed with them.
• XN: Favorite NFL team?
• SB: The Cleveland Browns
• KD: The Pittsburgh Steelers