Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – When Marci Byers walked onto campus for her first day as a Hokie in January of 2020, nobody could have predicted what the next 14 months was going to look like. Byers, the winningest coach in Radford history, made the move across the New River Valley eager to get to work. Her first Spring was quickly cut short with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic that crippled her ability to work hands-on with her student-athletes.
"It was a year like none other just because of COVID-19 and having to work with that," Byers said when reflecting on the unique year. "We were on campus probably in the gym with them about 22 days or so and we did get a chance to do a Spring match with JMU and then after that we got shut down until basically August being able to work with them."
One thing that never wavered was the buy-in from the team, something she is grateful for.
"The kids really bought into what we were doing and if it had not have been for that buy-in, I don't think we would have gotten as far along as we did," she said. "We still have 100 meters to go, but we at least accomplished a little bit of going in the right direction this year."
That direction took the Hokies to a 6-11 overall record and 5-11 in the ACC, earning a 12th-place finish up from a last place mark in 2019.
Tech won the first match of the Byers era with a 3-0 straight-set victory over The Citadel and carried that momentum to a weekend split against visiting North Carolina, earning her first ACC win.
The Hokies next defeated Virginia twice, 3-1 each time, marking the program's first winning streak against their rivals in over three years. At the time, Tech was 4-1 and 3-1 in the ACC.
After a win at No. 14 Duke, the program dropped its last three matches of 2020 to stand at 5-4, 4-4 in the ACC at the conclusion of the fall portion of the season.
By the time that the program suited up again in mid-March, it had undergone a pause due to COVID-19 protocols and was trying to find its rhythm again.
"It was really hard," Byers reflected on coming back from pauses. "We started out in January not having everybody when we came back from our first testing group. We had kids that ended up being sent home in quarantine the very first day we came back to school, so that was 14 days. We practiced with what we had and then we finally got everybody back after that two weeks and trying to go into our opening weekend and then we practiced only to get ready to leave for Louisville and get shut down again."
Losses to ranked Notre Dame and Georgia Tech squads, as well as a 3-1 defeat at Florida State, met the program on their return to the court.
"We got back and finally got everybody back going for our home weekend and that was when we were actually able to see some things put together," said Byers.
The Hokies got back in the win column with a 3-2 victory over Syracuse on March 21 with three players – Kaity Smith, Marisa Cerchio and Ashley Homan – tallying double digit kill numbers. That win would be the last of the 2020-21 season, however, as losses to Miami, Boston College, Pitt and Clemson closed out the season.
"We really felt like, even with everything that was going on, we would be able to finish somewhere in the 8-10 range in the league," Byers said. "To finish in 11th is disappointing, even though for the players who finished 15th last year, that's an accomplishment for them."
Still, despite the struggles of the unique season, there were some positives that Byers saw in her squad and reason for belief that she and the Hokies will be met with more success in the future.
When asked about any positives to come out of the pandemic, Byers was quick to point out communication.
"It allowed us to be able to communicate more," she explained. "Obviously, it wasn't in-person but we were on Zoom calls a lot, FaceTime, that's the one thing that's changed in the last year. No one picks up the phone and makes a regular call anymore, its either Zoom or its FaceTime or Skype. So, you're always looking at someone face-to-face, so that's definitely changed. I think the communication started with that and changed."
The program has gained some momentum in the offseason, with the addition of two transfers, Griere Hughes from Iowa and Mekenzi Heckmann, who last played at SMU.
"Hopefully they can come in and provide some stability for us," Byers said. "Hughes is coming from the Power Five level and she was a starter there most of her career and then Mekenzi is a big, physical kid that we think is going to be able to help us right away."
Tech is also looking forward to the incoming freshman class, some of whom Byers expects will be given the opportunity to play right away.