STARKVILLE — David McFatrich knew what he was getting into when he became Mississippi State’s new volleyball coach.
McFatrich realized MSU never has qualified for the NCAA tournament and has won only 86 Southeastern Conference matches in its 40-year history.
But McFatrich helped build a winning attitude at Central Arkansas, a Division I school in Conway, Arkansas. He spent four seasons as an assistant coach at the school before taking control of the program in 2011. As head coach, McFatrich led the Sugar Bears to the NCAA tournament in 2012 and 2013. Central Arkansas won the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles both years with records of 30-5 and 29-4, respectively. He also was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 2013.
McFatrich’s success at Central Arkansas gives him confidence MSU can reach similar heights. That’s why he expects big things in his first season in Starkville.
“Our goal is to make history. Our goal is to go to the NCAA tournament,” said McFatrich, whose team will play host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff at noon Friday, Aug. 28, in the Bulldog Invitational at the Newell-Grissom Building.
McFatrich replaces Jenny Hazelwood, a former MSU volleyball player, who went 55-129 in six seasons as coach. In December 2014, Hazelwood was re-assigned to an administrative position in the MSU Athletic Department.
MSU went 7-26 last season. In six seasons, Hazelwood won 20 of her 116 SEC matches. MSU has had only eight winning seasons in its history. Six of those seasons came earlier than 2001. MSU’s last winning season was 2006 (17-13).
McFatrich feels he has a good mix of newcomers and veterans to change the Bulldogs’ fortunes. Of the veterans, only senior Alex Warren has lettered for three years, but that’s not stopping the players from echoing McFatrich’s optimism.
“We wanted him to be able to come in here and change us, not a few years down the road. Some people are talking about four or five years down the road. We want to be successful now,” said rising sophomore libero Payton Harris, who McFatrich recruited when he was at Central Arkansas. “We want our seniors to go out with a bang. We don’t want to start years from now. We want to start it right now.”
Rising senior defensive specialist Ellen Stuart recalls times in the past two seasons when losing was accepted by almost everybody on the team.
“We’ve had some issues with the upperclassmen on the team where they’re OK with losing,” she said. “Coming in as freshmen and coming in as a sophomore, they see that from that upperclassmen and they’re like, ‘I guess it is OK to lose.’ I think our whole team culture has changed in the past six months. We know we’re not OK with that. I know none of us are going to be OK with losing.”
To get players like Harris, who was named to the All-SEC Freshman team last season, and Stuart to buy in right away, McFatrich had to change the mind-set in the program. When he took the job, he met with the returning players and let them know what was expected of them and how they could move into the future. McFatrich told the veterans they were going to change things offensively and defensively and they were going to be more aggressive.
“As much as we need you guys to accept those things, and they did, we also need you guys to accept the fact we’re going to work our tails off,” McFatrich said, recalling what he told his team in its first meeting in January. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a group that has worked as hard as these guys have.”
McFatrich hopes the formula that worked so well for him at Central Arkansas will translate to MSU. Last season, Central Arkansas was on track to return to the NCAA tournament, but it lost to Northwestern State in the Southland Conference tournament final.
“We had a model up there that seemed to work,” McFatrich said. “When I got there as an assistant, I kind of got the green light to do some things and it was fantastic to change the offense and to change the defense and to change the way the players play and the way they look at the game. That’s the same model we’re going to bring down here.”
The players are excited about playing a new style. Stuart, who transferred to MSU from Lamar University, a Division I school in Beaumont, Texas, became accustomed to a certain type of play in high school. When she arrived at MSU, it wasn’t the same.
“Our offense is a lot faster than it ever has been. When I was in high school, we ran such a fast offense, and I’m really used to that,” Stuart said. “The past few years, it hasn’t been as fast. (McFatrich) wants us to cram it down their throats as hard as we can and as fast as we can.”
Along with changing the perception of MSU volleyball, McFatrich wants to help high school volleyball in the state of Mississippi. Mississippi volleyball programs are in their infancy, meaning McFatrich and assistant coaches Brittany and John Newberry have to go out of state to recruit.
MSU currently has only one player — former Starkville High standout Khris Carr — from Mississippi. Twelve of MSU’s 17 players are from Texas or California.
Although he hasn’t had much time to work on it, McFatrich and his coaches will assist the state’s high school programs the best they can.
“We want to be able to be at the forefront of developing volleyball in Mississippi, and we want to be there for the high school coaches,” said McFatrich, a native of Woodbridge, Virginia. “We want to be available to them and kind of share our thoughts and ideas. I look forward to volleyball growing here in Mississippi like it did in Arkansas.
“Volleyball here reminds me of where it was 15 years ago in Arkansas. In Arkansas, it’s exploding, and some of the best players in the nation are in that state.”
Ben Wait is a sports writer for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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