Setting the roster

UPDATED: Salem CC’s startup volleyball program lands its first csignee, a local product from Salem Tech, and awaits approval of two assistants

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Andrea Bartlett has spent the last three months building the new Salem CC volleyball program from scratch. Going places, seeing people, molding the program to her vision.

Now that she has a player in the fold, it finally feels like she has a team.

The Mighty Oaks’ newest women’s program and their coach landed their first official signee and she’s coming from a lot closer than originally anticipated.

Their first player is Tiara Bazemore, an all-conference setter from Salem Tech.

“It’s super exciting to have a local athlete here at Salem,” Bartlett said. “Volleyball’s not a sport that’s hugely popular in South Jersey, so I’m super excited to find a home for those local athletes to come play at the next level.”

It was anticipated the Mighty Oaks’ first signee would be a right-side setter from South Florida, but Bazemore’s paperwork beat her to the punch. The Mighty Oaks are still in on the player and anticipate this initial signing will open the door to a lot more.

“Now that I’ve signed my first one, I’ve had so much built up, now it’s finally coming to fruition,” Bartlett said. “Now I’m starting to get more contacts from people finally following up with me. It’s all finally coming together it feels like.”

Similarly, the two assistants she’s bringing on are going through the hiring process. One is a former Chestnut Hill setter from Wilmington and one is currently a New Jersey high school swim coach.

When it comes to players, ideally Bartlett would like to have a minimum of 10 to 12 players for her first season in the fall – two for each position – but it won’t really feel complete until she gets enough for an initial starting seven and then, she said, “I can really start getting into the nitty gritty of it.”

Bartlett was hired in November and brings a wealth of experience and success on the Delaware high school and club circuit. Athletics director Bob Hughes called her “the perfect coach” to launch the program.

The team will compete in the four-team Region 19 Division II – with Delaware Tech (Bartlett’s JUCO alma mater), Harcum and Morris, effectively replacing Lackawanna, which is moving to NCAA Division II – and look to play a 20-match first-year schedule. Several of the region’s Division III teams in South Jersey already have expressed an interest in playing.

The idea of starting her first program is both exciting and scary.

“To start it from the beginning you’re able to set the standards and the culture,” she said. “When you go into a program with athletes who are already there they are used to old coaching styles or what the culture used to be or these rules we used to have and I get to start from scratch so I could think of what do I want to do, what kind of environment do I want to create to make these athletes want to come play here and then we can just build from that.

“I don’t have to worry about what was previously done. I get to start it from the beginning. It’s a lot of pressure on me because it’s my first program and making sure I do set those right standards, but along with them growing Ill also grow and learn, too, and we’ll figure out kind of together what works and what doesn’t and build the program together.”

While it wasn’t necessarily planned to land a setter as her first commitment, it was a fortuitous happenstance. Bazemore recorded 173 assists this past season with 23 kills and 43 aces. She had 262 assists over the past two seasons.

“It is nice to know that I have a setter,” Bartlett said. “Having a setter first and picking up at least a couple in the beginning because that’s who’s essentially running my offense. And knowing I have at least one on the list is important.”

Because the Mighty Oaks are a true start-up, the focus of Bartlett’s first year will be on team culture, which means teamwork, growth and resilience. It’s not dissimilar to the way she develops a new bunch of players for her 17U club team who likely haven’t played together before.

“It’s all about finding kids with character,” Barlett said. “I can teach you volleyball … but it’s really hard to teach character. I’m trying to find kids who are willing to buy in and be all in for the team and not just for their own personal goals and be willing to put in the hard work.”