Bing Xu’s volleyball practice starts without a ball on Tuesday.
The Emporia State players are taking turns jumping at the net, moving back and forth as if a ball is in play and they’re going for blocks. They’re still communicating like there is a ball and anticipating where the ball would go.
If this sounds a little different, maybe nontraditional, then it fits the Hornets program. This is the team with the tall, imported setter from China. This is the team with a coach who doesn’t ever raise his voice. A coach who’s assistant coach is his wife. And this is the team that seems to get picked fifth every year in the MIAA, and always exceeds expectations.
Xu doesn’t pay much attention to rankings or predictions. He operates by using results and numbers. He’ll tell you the reason they spend so much time practicing blocking at the net — with or without a ball — is because the team who wins the battle at the net is going to win 80 percent of the time.
The tall setter is Ting Liu. Liu is 6-foot-1. Setters are traditionally the shortest players on the court. Liu is the tallest player on the ESU team.
“For volleyball, taller is better,” Xu says. “Bottom line, you’re tall, you have to be mobile. We try to find a taller setter. Every team tries to find a taller setter. That’s a big advantage.”
Senior Megan Koster says Liu, the MIAA freshman of the year in 2007, was a welcome addition last season.
“The pass can be over the net and she’ll still set it because she’s just so much taller than everybody else,” Koster says.
Liu enables the Hornets to use a quick-hitting system and allows Xu to keep his setter in the game throughout the rotations. Traditionally, a team is at a disadvantage when its setter is on the front line and needs to also be a blocker. Of course, Xu brings his own traditions.
Xu grew up in China playing in the country’s volleyball program. He came to the United States to play volleyball at Columbia College in Missouri. He came to Emporia State as an assistant coach after working as an assistant for both Columbia and Palm Beach Atlantic University.
After the head coaching job opened up four years ago, athletic director Kent Weiser promoted Xu.
Weiser says he never considered anyone else. He could tell Xu was a natural fit for the program. Weiser marvels at Xu’s methods and the respect he gets from his players.
One of Xu’s methods is he occasionally will fill in on the second team in scrimmages against the starters. Weiser says it’s amazing to watch Xu play. He doesn’t look like he’s using a lot of energy or moving around a lot, but he covers a ton of ground. And he’s always seeing things develop before they happen. His play and his coaching are influenced by his country.
“A lot of ball control over there. Really, really good ball control in China,” Xu says. “And also the players, they play more and have more time to play, and they know the game well. They know what they are going to do and they can read it very well. I try to teach my team you need to read the game, that’s the important part of the game. You can think ahead of time.”
Xu quietly stood on the sideline Tuesday as his players played a game of three-on-three where they are allowed to use only half the court. Occasionally, between points, Xu would calmly correct a mistake that wasn’t evident to the untrained volleyball eye.
Instead of raising his voice to make a point like many coaches do, Xu can’t be heard from more than several feet away.
“He’s a lot calmer,” junior Arica Shepard says. “He’s really calm. He doesn’t yell very often, which I think is great. I’m not one of those people who just like to be chewed out all the time, so his coaching works well with my being able to take it.
“If you make him mad, he gets really quiet. He doesn’t speak at all when you make him mad, so you know when he’s not happy. Ping, on the other hand, Ping will let us have it. She can be scary.”
Xu shouldn’t have many reasons to get upset this year. Emporia State is one of the most experienced teams in the conference. Xu returns all but one starter and has four seniors this year, Xu’s first senior class that he recruited. Last season the Hornets did not have any seniors.
The Hornets have been practicing three times a day this week and Xu does not get any complaints from his players. They know his techniques work — albeit they’re not always traditional — they work. After finishing third in the league last season and losing in the semifinals to Truman at Regionals, this team has one big goal in mind.
“I say we should definitely go to Nationals,” Shepard says. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to. I know we can beat Washburn. We’ve done it before. I know Truman we lost to three times last year, but I have a feeling we’ll be able to get them this year. But I definitely think we should be first at Regionals and go to Nationals.”