HUNTINGTON -- Potential recruits and incoming freshmen to Marshall's volleyball program are getting a first-hand look at the program this week as Marshall's High Potential camp hits the court.
That includes everything from strategy on the court to showing leadership off the court.
Marshall volleyball coach Mitch Jacobs said that the camp features 10-12 Division I-caliber players that could help the Herd in the long run, including five that will join the Herd in the fall.
As part of a highly-touted recruiting class, those five players have high expectations and Jacobs made that clear to them when they showed up a little tardy for the evening session on Friday.
"It's a nationally-ranked recruiting class so we are pretty excited about that," Jacobs said. "Soon, they will learn how to be on time for sessions. Boy, it will be a quick awakening on Aug. 7, won't it?"
One of the five players on hand at the camp is incoming freshman Cameron Yoho, the 2007-08 West Virginia Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year from Tyler Consolidated High School.
Yoho is enrolled at Marshall this summer and is quickly learning what life is like as a Division I volleyball player.
"It's nice to have a little peek on what the season is going to be like," Yoho said. "This camp is basically a little hint on what we are going to get."
For Yoho, the biggest surprise has been the differences she has seen in Jacobs. She laughed about how laid back Jacobs seemed when they talked in high school but how his intensity level increases once he is out on the court.
"It is completely opposite, but I love a coach that's intense," Yoho said.
While also learning the nuances of Jacobs, Yoho is also able to build chemistry not only with the four other incoming freshmen involved with the camp, but also with her veteran teammates who are helping to lead the camp.
She said she is just trying to listen and soak in as much information from those players as possible now and looks forward to hitting camp in August and working with them as teammates in the season.
"These girls know so much more than me already, so I'm looking forward to it," Yoho said.
There were two courts going for the camp -- one with the incoming players who are tuning their games for the Division I level and another for high-end varsity players in West Virginia who are getting their first taste of a college volleyball atmosphere.
Jacobs said that it is fun to see those players shed their initial jitters and start hitting the ball with confidence.
"Some of them, this is their first time at this high of a level of play and coaching," Jacobs said. "It's good to have them in here being more aggressive and learning what it takes."
The High Potential camp wraps up with two sessions today and concludes a busy week of volleyball in the Henderson Center. This camp comes on the back end of the General Skills and Specialty camp which ran through Wednesday.
"We've had a few kids that have gone through both camps, started on Monday and gone all the way through," Jacobs said. "It's good experience for those kids to be out here."
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