TXST VOLLEYBALL
Texas State participates in International Tour across Europe in preparation for season
Head Coach Sean Huiet dreamed of taking his team on a once in a lifetime trip, playing a series of games against European volleyball clubs across Europe.
Plans were set in place for Texas State to take such a trip before the Covid-19 Pandemic shut the world down.
“When I first took over as head coach, [a European trip] was something I looked into,” Huiet said. “I just think it’s a really cool opportunity. When I first started looking into it, it was kind of like one of those things like I wanted to do something special with Emily DeWalt, Janelle Fitzgerald, Jillian Slaughter and that group then COVID happened.
That was shut down so we couldn’t really look at it.”
Huiet’s European trip was put on hold for the time being but did not give up on the idea. Finally everything was lined up perfectly for Texas State as the Bobcats participated in a 10-day International Trip across Europe, playing against several Euorpean clubs across five different countries.
“We went to Hawaii, but that foreign tour was still in the back of my mind as something I wanted to do,” Huiet said. “The company that runs it is so awesome. We literally just pay and then show up.
The Bobcats played several European Clubs as part of their International Tour in the hopes of improving their game as Texas State prepares to defend their Sun Belt crown in their last season in the conference. Photo submitted by Texas State Athletics
They plan everything so there’s no stress. So I was like, this will be just a cool experience to give our team [that’s] something for them. It’s once in a lifetime.”
While the trip did give the Bobcats the opportunity to experience Europe for the first time, the International Tour also gave the team valuable training experience as Texas State looks to defend their Sun Belt Conference title in their last season in the conference.
“Just getting together and being able to train in May is something we don’t normally get to do,” Huiet said. “We’ve got 10 extra days to train, and then we played five matches over there. It ranged from level and skill. One day they asked us to split into into two teams then we were playing like a U-18 team that had about five or six kids that were coming to the States to play in college, and then we played like the U16 team, which again, the age of it is a little bit off, but it was a good recruiting tool.”
Huiet noted the differences of playing volleyball here in the States and playing across the Atlantic ocean.
“There’s a different style of play in Europe,” Huiet said. “There’s different rules and we played with a different ball. Our kids saw the difference and how spoiled we can be here with some of our facilities and things that we have, seeing how they train and do things there.”
One of the challenges the team faced was having to deal with changes in their daily routine and making adjustments on the fly.
While Huiet is all for keeping the team on an organized schedule, the Bobcat head coach also knows that life has a way of switching up things without warning.
“We’ve talked with this group that they don’t always do well when things change,” Huiet said. “They like their schedule, warm ups at this time, get my coffee at this time, and have my hair this way. That’s all fine and dandy, but there’s things in life that just change and things that happen. … We were on the metro heading to the gym and some of us got off at the wrong stop. We had to get back on then you walk into the gym, warm up for 20 minutes and then you play.”
The changes in the team’s daily routine forced the Bobcats to welcome the change which Huiet was proud of.
“That’s not what they’re used to so it was really cool to see them develop and embrace that,” Huiet said. “[Being] ‘Okay, let’s go, we have to get our minds right to play volleyball now.’ Just having some of those different experiences I think will help our team for the season when some things happen and [everything] doesn’t go as planned.”
“It just showed them that it doesn’t always have to be this perfect lineup to a match, and they, when it’s game time, they can put their brains on it and compete. That was fun to see because they actually all saw that. … It was good to see them get out of their comfort zone.
While the team embraced adjusting to random changes, it wasn’t the only thing Huiet wanted to see from the team.
With the addition of several freshmen and transfer players coming into the 2025 season, the tour was an opportunity for many of the players to play with each other for the first time.
“That was the biggest part of it all, was getting the freshmen in there and letting them get used to [the college game],” Huiet said. “We had some transfers come in the spring, but it’s always just a little different.
So the 10 days training leading up, they got to spend a lot of time together. But then that whole trip of being with different roommates and just spending so much time together again, it was the experience of that and what it’s done.
“Bonding with the staff and us getting to spend some time with the newcomers and just them having the bonding experience,” Huiet said. “You can see from their social media and just the stuff that we got to do, it just started the bonding and the experience [early for us] to get ready for our 2025 season earlier than we normally get to. In the long run, it’s really going to help us.”
Texas State opens the season on the road in an exhibition match against Lamar. The Bobcats first home game of the season will be against Arizona State at the Texas State Tournament.
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The Bobcats celebrate scoring a point as part of their International Tour, playing in five different countries. Photo submitted by Texas State Athletics
