St. James Academy (KS) Head Coach;
2015 AVCA National High School Coach of the Year;
2015 Kansas Class 5A state champions;
seven state titles in nine years 2008-15 (finished runner up twice);
2x PrepVolleyball.com National Champions (2013, 2010);
VBM 2013 High School Team of the Year; American Family Insurance 2013 All-USA Volleyball Coach of the Year;
won 56 straight matches from 2012-13; lost only one set in 2013 (finishing 96-1); over 420 career wins
In 2006, when St. James Academy opened in Lenexa (KS) Nancy Dorsey became the head coach at a brand new school with only a freshman class. In just nine varsity seasons Coach Dorsey's teams have won seven Kansas High School State Championships and finished second twice. Dorsey's teams have also received national recognition being crowned the PrepVolleyball.com National Champs in the 2010 and 2013 seasons. In 2013, Dorsey's team remained unbeaten, going 46-0, dropping only one single set the entire season. The Thunder also finished 4th in the nation (PrepVolleyball.com) in the 2008 and 2011 seasons as well as a 3rd place National finish in 2015. In 2013 Dorsey was named the American Family Insurance All-USA Coach of the Year. This season Dorsey was selected as the AVCA National Coach of the Year. Her overall record at St. James Academy is 421-30.
Setters are notorious for leaving early on defense. This video from Nancy Dorsey will show you how to train your setters to focus on defense first before moving to set the ball.
Coach Dorsey builds on her theme of "training the whole player" by working on blocking, defense and attacking for setters. Through a series of progressive drills, she covers setter fundamentals from hand shape to footwork and explains every concept in great detail so setters can have a better understanding of the position.
Setting Fundamentals
You will start out with some basic fundamentals used to train beginning setters and provide a good refresher to seasoned setters. Coach Dorsey covers hand placement, body position, finishing and footwork.
Setting Technique Progression
Coach Dorsey progresses through a variety of drills that has setters working in pairs, to setting with a full team in a live attack. She begins with proper shape of the hands and arms to take the ball properly.
Next, you will learn the footwork necessary to be a great setter. Coach Dorsey's drills work on the feet, hips and overall footwork to improve control, balance and strength. She puts it all together in a drill called Set to a Box, where your setters will work on muscle memory and accuracy while setting to a target. This drill includes a number of progressions that put the setters in different situations while working on setting good hittable balls.
The next segment includes drills that work on peripheral vision. In these drills, your setters will learn to read the middle blocker and make a decision on which hitter is the best option to set to. Setters get to work on their vision and decision making in a controlled atmosphere.
Game-Like Setting Drills
Coach Dorsey demonstrates drills that help setters train everything they need to do in a game. This section covers blocking, attacking and playing defense.
In the blocking drills, Coach Dorsey explains why setters need to block first before they can think about moving to set. She then moves on to developing the whole athlete by showing how to train setters to attack. This is especially important for coaches that run 5-1 offenses, as setters need to be a threat to keep the defense honest.
The last section is a series of drills that develop all requirements of the setter. These drills are fast-paced and great for conditioning. Coach Dorsey shows a drill called the Bad Pass Series, which helps setters learn to over-exaggerate tap-tap footwork while simplifying the motions. It's a great footwork drill that trains setters to move to bad passes and still make a good set.
This video is full of drills you can immediately add to your practice plans. Coach Dorsey's emphasis on developing setters to become complete players is perfect for coaches of all levels.
47 minutes. 2016.