ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College Department of Intercollegiate Athletics truly resides among the elite in NCAA Division III. With a 90-year history that includes 15 Team National Titles and 46 Individual National Champions, Ithaca's credentials certainly stack up against the best. However, a champion's mentality is never satiated by past successes, but rather always has one eye towards the future. Whether through the building of top-notch facilities – like the state-of-the-art Athletics & Events Center and the Hill Center renovation in the early 2010's – or the development of the department's multifaceted Optimum Performance Program over the past several years, IC Athletics has always looked for new ways to maximize the growth and potential of its student-athletes. One program that has been at the forefront of this forward-thinking approach is Ithaca College Women's Volleyball, who has laid the blueprint with the utilization of some innovative techniques in an effort to gain that elusive competitive edge.
 
The Ithaca College women's volleyball team has demonstrably been a program on the rise over the past half decade. While the Bombers have been a strong regional program during the majority of their 50-plus year history, head coach Johan Dulfer has elevated the program to a perennial name to be reckoned with on the national stage. Since his arrival on South Hill in 2016, Ithaca has won at least one NCAA Tournament match each of the past four seasons, while the program has advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship each of the past three years. During the 2017 and 2018 campaigns, the Bombers made back-to-back runs to the NCAA Semifinals and NCAA Quarterfinals, respectively, marking the first time the program had achieved the feat dating back to the early 1990's.
 
As is the case when you reach close to the pinnacle, as IC women's volleyball has done over recent seasons, the final steps to reaching the peak are the toughest. The program has left no stone left unturned in finding ways to push the program towards that pursuit of a championship and one former player has played a big role in implementing techniques that have served to amplify the bridge between the mental and physical aspects of the sport.
 
Tara Stilwell '19 was a star libero for the Bombers during the team's back-to-back runs in 2017 and 2018, ranking fourth on the program's all-time list with 1,683 digs despite competing in just three total seasons after transferring to IC as a sophomore. Although her playing career came to an end at the conclusion of that 2018 campaign, she has continued to have a major impact on the program as graduate assistant, translating her work in the classroom to the volleyball court. A CoSIDA Academic All-District achiever in Applied Psychology during her undergraduate career, Stilwell always had a fascination with how her studies translated to a sport environment, causing her to pursue a minor in Sport and Exercise Psychology. This background has evolved into full-fledged passion over the past couple years and has honed her potential career path in the years to come.

A big part of cultivating that passion can be attributed to Dr. Sebastian Harenberg. IC is blessed to have some of the most brilliant and driven faculty in the country and Harenberg is certainly an embodiment of all those positive traits. Serving as Stilwell's Master's program advisor, Dr. Harenberg has been at the forefront of this exciting area of study, building from the ground-up some cutting-edge research studies within Ithaca's Sport and Exercise Psychology Lab. Dr. Harenberg already had involvement with the athletic department, not only through his research, but also as a volunteer assistant coach with the women's soccer program. However, the research study implemented with the volleyball program was certainly the most in-depth in terms of its scope.

"Tara has been an outstanding student in our lab since she started working with me. Virtual reality has been a big interest of mine and I am so lucky to work with Tara, among other students, on this project. The collaboration with Johan and the volleyball program has been outstanding. Technology and particularly what we do (VR) is the next generation of sport psychology training. Our research is focused on showing just how effective it is." said Dr. Sebastian Harenberg.
 

The conception of the program used with the volleyball program began fairly unassumingly with a casual conversation between Dulfer and Harenberg in the hallway of the Hill Center. The topic of Sport Psychology came up and with that the initial foundation of what would eventually blossom into a pilot study was born. Utilizing Dr. Harenberg's extensive expertise, passion for the subject matter and resources at the Psychology Lab,  this landmark study has not only framed the basis for Stilwell's graduate-school thesis, but has also become an integral piece of the puzzle for Ithaca's women's volleyball program.
 
"My interest in the field was sparked during my undergrad at IC," Stilwell explained. "I had a minor in Sport and Exercise Psychology, so I started doing some research with a graduate student and my advisor [Dr. Harenberg] and it really led into conducting research in the field. I have honed that research into an applied setting with athletes to help them work on their mental approach during competitive situations and it has become something I want to pursue in my professional career."
 
It is not by happenstance that the study made such a seamless transition to the volleyball program. Coach Dulfer also specialized in sport psychology during his graduate schooling and has emphasized the mental approach to the sport throughout his career as a head coach.
 
"Coach Dulfer has his masters in the area, and all four of our assistants on staff are currently working toward their Masters in the field," Stilwell explained. "It's really unique to have a full coaching staff already be bought in and understand the value of the mental aspect of volleyball and be willing to implement different tools into our coaching routine for our athletes."
 
"Our entire staff has an education in sport psychology and this creates a great energy around the program," Dulfer said. "We are always looking for ways to create an edge for our team, both physically and mentally. We are incredibly blessed to have the support of people like Dr. Harenberg. We are truly indebted to him for all of his hard work in spearheading this project and helping its rollout for our program. It is people like Dr. Harenberg that really make Ithaca College a step above the rest."

 
The foundation of the research study revolved around the implementation of 360-degree video technology to create virtual environments where athletes would be able to see the court as they would in a live situation and be tasked with making split-second decisions. The process was a tedious one, as hundreds of video clips were recorded with players wearing 360-cameras and countless hours devoted to selecting the best clips. That was just half the effort, as Dr. Harenberg, Stilwell and Dulfer next developed a protocol for analyzing what would soon become a mountain of data.
 
"To develop the 360-degree volleyball clips, we placed a 360 camera on top of players head and then play out specific volleyball scenes," Stilwell explained. "It takes a lot of time to systematically clip videos to meet our specific requirements for different contexts and we go through a whole validation process."
 
The videos were also specialized by position.

 
"For outside hitter clips, we use decision making and the videos to train pins on seeing the block in front of them as they attack to try to quickly decide which shot they should hit based off the block set up (line, split, cross)," Stilwell continued. "With middle blocker context clips, we ask the players to decide where they think the ball is going to be set before it is set to help facilitate the anticipation and subsequent decision making process. Now while each of these seem position specific - every athlete can benefit from watching the hitters, setters, and block. For example, I tell my libero and defensive specialists to watch the block and imagine the shot they need to be calling out for their hitters."
 
Once the virtual videos were cataloged and clipped down implementation began. Stilwell described how the virtual reality program was paired  with other available technology in Neurotracker and Fitlights. More information on those programs can be found at these links: Neurotracker, Fitlight.
 
"The protocol is very unique in that we had two training groups going at the same time," Stilwell said. "We split the team in half with eight players training with [virtual reality] and seven players using the cognitive training programs (Neurotracker, Fitlights) at the beginning of the year. We then switched the groups after four weeks. The virtual reality group would go through different videos and practice decision making with a coach mimicking a match environment. The other group would be working on reaction times."
 
A key aspect of this training method was that it helped limit the physical stress that the body is subjected through during the course of a season. Conducting this training primarily on Monday's, the Bombers were able to stay sharp mentally, while giving the physical body much-needed rest.
 
"Our VR training is unique - no other team anywhere in the world trains the way we do," Dulfer exclaimed. "It shows the forward-thinking mindset of Ithaca College. It's our 'secret weapon'. Our athletes are able to train their decision making without the impact of being on the court and the time commitment otherwise needed for a full training session. We are able to build in physical rest for the team while keeping our minds sharp. What a great way to give our players an edge, especially down the stretch of a grueling tough season."
 
Junior captain Sarah Jennison explained how the training has helped elevate her game.
 
"My favorite part of the training was using the VR glasses to analyze the best shots we can take given the particular blocking set-up we are hitting against.  This was so helpful because I used to struggle to see the block while I was hitting, but the extra "reps" I got in the lab increased my confidence in hitting around any block.  I feel more relaxed when I play because I know I have seen the possibilities of what the block will look like, and I've seen "myself" make the right shots based on the VR practice.  I really enjoyed the program and sincerely hope to continue with it in the future!"
 
First-year players Jennifer Pitts and Camryn O'Leary also shared their initial impressions and experiences with the innovative training program.
 
"When we first started the training, I was skeptical of it," Pitts recalled. "I had full faith in Tara and her program, however, I had never taken part in something of this nature and I didn't expect to see real, concrete changes in my play… I was happily surprised to say I noticed differences in my play quite quickly. I was recognizing where the set was going much quicker and picking up on angles of the hitters I was blocking. I seemed to be more agile physically because my mind was making decisions quicker. There would be times when my teammates and I would make a tough play and just look at each other and say "that was the neurotracker." I was blown away by the results and the fact that a Bomber volleyball player created them was incredible. I'm so thrilled for Tara and to be a part of something that is going to be the next big technology in sport. I can't wait to see where the project goes and to be able to say I was a part of the first team to experience it."
 
"I really enjoyed the overall experience. It was really amazing to be a part of something so revolutionary in athletics," O'Leary said. "It was really cool to be improving on these skills every week. For me, the change in my game wasn't immediately clear. However, I know my reaction time and decision making has changed a lot and it will have even greater impact when I improve the blocking aspect of my game. Incorporating Tara's lab with our practice schedule really did a lot for our team, and I hope it is something we can continue."
 
While the volleyball program's plan to implement additional layers of the study this spring have been temporarily paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program certainly plans to permanently integrate the techniques from last year's pilot run moving forward. In fact, other IC athletic programs have also taken notice and have begun the process of developing similar training.
 
"Seeing the success of last season, the lab team is currently working on using videos to help with the women's soccer team and the softball team," Stilwell added. "I am excited to see the future of the work we are doing."
 
Innovative thinking coupled with dedicated student-athletes – both past and present – is just another way that the Ithaca "Bomber Way" sets itself apart.