Sheffield's Flyers are academic and on-court standouts

The Dayton Flyers volleyball team has been on a steady climb in recent years towards the top of the rankings on the court and in the classroom. Coach Kelly Sheffield’s team finished last season as the AVCA’s (American Volleyball Coaches Association) No. 15 team on the court, as well as the AVCA’s Team Academic Award.

The Flyers were one of three top 15 teams to earn the honor, which is awarded to team that have maintained at least a 3.3 cumulative grade-point average. It is the fourth consecutive year that the Flyers have earned the distinction as they flashed a 3.45 overall G.P.A., the last three coming under Sheffield’s tutelage. Not a bad way to begin your tenure at a new job.

“I don’t know if we’ve really done anything (to help the team’s G.P.A.),” downplayed the humble Sheffield. “You try to establish a culture and that begins with recruiting and talking about expectations. We talk about what’s important to us during the recruiting process, about standards of excellence in the classroom, on the court and in the community. If academics aren’t really important, then a recruit is probably looking at the wrong school with Dayton.”

Sheffield has molded his Flyers into a formidable foe and a national contender. They are the two-time defending Atlantic 10 champions and peaked at No. 12 in the national rankings last season. The many accolades have been earned by hard work and determination, but built on a solid foundation created by Sheffield and his staff.

The academic excellence, Sheffield says, comes from the team.

“From day one, the newcomers to the team are surrounded by people who want to succeed and who want to help them succeed,” he said. “On our first road trip, we want to make sure that our kids get off on the right foot with respect to their classwork. We talk about little things that we think add up and make a difference for our girls in the classroom. Things like getting to know your professors and, more importantly, getting them to know you by visiting them during office hours, sitting in the first three rows of the room and being an active participant in the class.

“But a lot of it is also the culture of the team,” he continued. “The first road trip that the freshmen take, they get on the bus and they see the upperclassmen opening their books and all of a sudden, they’re picking up their own books. I don’t think it’s magical what we’re doing; it has a lot to do with the culture that’s been established over the years.”

To match that academic excellence, Sheffield has created an expectation of excellence on the court. They were unblemished in the Atlantic 10 regular season and stormed through the conference tournament to notch a 17-0 record against conference opponents. His 79-21 record in his three years as the Flyers coach is an impressive feat against some stellar competition.

“We always have a goal to win the A-10 championship and get into the NCAA tournament,” Sheffield said. “Those are standards that we want to achieve every year. Beyond that, wins and losses will take care of themselves. It’s a cliché, but we could schedule 25 or 30 wins every year, or we could schedule the toughest teams in the country every year. Sometimes the wins and losses don’t really tell you how you’re progressing.”

The team’s progression under Sheffield has been steady, if not remarkable. Building on records of 21-13, 30-4 and 28-4, the team is embarking on a new venture this season, with five freshmen and three sophomores to go with just one senior and three juniors. The roster turnover will be a challenge, but Sheffield and his staff will not shy away from it.

“Every freshman on the team has been at the school since the beginning of July,” he said. “They’ve been working out with our strength and conditioning coach. They’ve been in the open gym workouts with the upperclassmen. So they have had the opportunity to work out together. I would say that with our athletes, 90 to 95 percent of the time that they’ve had a ball in their hands they’ve had a coach telling them what to do. So to be here for a month and to see the high expectations from their teammates and to push and encourage each other, and work out on their own, there is some tremendous value in that.”

He and his staff look to make the players better with a commitment to self-improvement on a daily basis.

“One of the things we talk about almost daily is taking control of your own improvement, of your own life; being an active participant in your life,” he said. “By them coming here in July, at a time when I’m not allowed to work with them, they’re able to see their peers go after things that are really important and push themselves. They’re not working hard because I’m telling them to work hard; they’re working hard because they’re buying into the culture that the upperclassmen are setting.”

A culture that continues to lead to success for the Dayton Flyers volleyball team and Kelly Sheffield.