After a stellar high school coaching career at Xavier earned him Fox Valley Christian Conference Coach of the Year, Post-Crescent All-Area Coach of the Year honors, and Valley 8 Coach of the Year; Matthew Schoultz set his sights on Lawrence University volleyball. By consulting some of the current players on the team, I was able to get some inside perspective for the questions in this week’s coach’s spotlight.
What drew you to Lawrence volleyball after having a stellar career at Xavier HS?
I was really excited for opportunity to coach at Lawrence University. Building Xavier’s program up from the bottom was a huge accomplishment and I was proud of what we were able to accomplish there. Coming to a great academic school and being able to work in my home town is really what drew me to Lawrence.
What is the best part about coaching at Lawrence?
Working with a great group of people in the athletic department and seeing all our student-athletes excel in the classroom and on the court.
Explain your method behind the girls running the Beep-Test frequently? What do you hope they will get out of it?
In past seasons, we would run the 800m on the track outside. While this helped us with conditioning, I was looking for something that was a little more related to volleyball for conditioning. The beep test is short spurts, just like a point in volleyball. We still are running 800m with the beep test; it is just more related to the game of volleyball.
What are your team goals for the season?
Be positive, motivated, selfless, team oriented and play for each other all season. [I hope we} play our type of volleyball and leave everything on the court every day.
I heard that you run the test alongside the team? Are you training for anything in particular as well or do you have another purpose?
Yes, I run the beep test with the team. No, I am not training for anything. I just want to show the team what I ask of them is not unrealistic. If I can run the beep test, they should be able to run it.
What is your obsession with the song Fireball, by Pitbull?
I do not have an obsession with Fireball. I like to listen to Top 40. I like any song with a good beat!
I’m a badminton fan myself. How do you feel about the sport? Word is that you are pretty good. Do you have any particular rivals on campus you play against?
Badminton is a fun sport. I have not played in a while. We used to play at Sam Nimmer’s house during the summer.