Upcoming Event: Women's Volleyball versus Yellow & Blue Scrimmage on August 8, 2026 at 11:00 a.m.
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11:00 a.m.
Women's Volleyball
vs Yellow & Blue Scrimmage
South Dakota State University Athletics
Photo by: SDSU Sports Information
Georgalas leads team through unprecedented times
4/3/2020 12:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
First-year head volleyball coach Dan Georgalas began his duties at South Dakota State in the beginning of January. As he was just settling into his new position, the COVID-19 outbreak presented new challenges.
"I think a lot of assistant coaches think they're prepared, but being a head coach always has a way of surprising you and keeping you on your toes," said Georgalas as he talked about the transition from associate head coach to head coach. "This situation has definitely been an added challenge for sure. I've really enjoyed my time here so far. The community has really lent a helping hand and a warm welcome."
Things were moving in the right direction with the team and new coaching staff before the student-athletes went home for spring break.
"I keep applauding the team for their buy-in prior to spring break and before this whole situation went down," said Georgalas, who was recently named an Under 40 Coaching Hotshot by VolleyballMag.com. "Their receptiveness to a new training vocabulary, a new energy, a new coach in the gym, new system philosophies, new technical feedback; all of their receptiveness to everything was just phenomenal. I never received any resistance as a new coach coming in. Their buy-in and willingness to embrace being uncomfortable and trying new things was fantastic."
One thing Georgalas is trying to instill in his team is to be a professional in all areas of their life.
"We need to be professionals at how we carry ourselves in the community, how we carry ourselves in the classroom, nutritionally, our sleep schedule, what our work ethic is like on the volleyball court and in the weight room," the head coach expressed to his team. "All of these different worlds contribute to the life of being a successful college student-athlete."
The squad was set to increase its weekly practice hours and get into the full swing of spring training when they returned from spring break. However, during spring break the spread of COVID-19 increased. It was later announced that classes would be moved online for the rest of the semester and students were to remain at home. Additionally, State had three home scrimmages that were canceled.
The team and coaching staff have been doing weekly virtual meetings via zoom. The student-athletes have been provided with voluntary workouts to do from home, while Georgalas has also been sending volleyball training videos for the girls to watch just so that volleyball is still on their mind.
Georgalas told his team that the situation could be worse. While they are just missing out on offseason training, other team's competition seasons were canceled.
"We don't want to let this situation hurt the momentum that they created or negate the investment that they have already put in," Georgalas expressed to his team in a weekly zoom meeting. "What we're doing now away from each other will be noticed when we do get to join back up with each other."
In addition to the effect on athletics that COVID-19 has had, students and professors have also been tackling a new challenge of all online classes.
"A conversation we've had with the team is how important it is to create a schedule just as if you were on campus taking in-person classes," Georgalas said. "When they're on campus, more often than not, someone else is providing that structure for them. So, I think the challenging part is creating that type of structure for themselves."
Georgalas had just completed his coaching staff with the hire of assistant coach Courtney Chacon. She had just started her new roll at SDSU days before students were told to remain home.
"Courtney's impact is still yet to be felt in the gym, but she's been doing as much as she can to recruit remotely right now," Georgalas said.
Recruiting has also taken on a whole new look during this time, due to no on or off campus visits being allowed until at least May 31.
"We've been sending links to virtual campus tours so that our top recruits can see the facilities and campus," Gerogalas said. "We've been trying to communicate weekly with our recruits via zoom and things like that. We're also creating more social media content to not only spread more information about our program, but just show the team culture and what the girls are like."
With so much still unknown, all that Georgalas, his staff, and team can do is plan and hope for the time when things start to look up and everyone can be together again.
"We're really just trying to plan for the future, even though we don't know what it holds. That's where our efforts are at right now," said Georgalas. "The team's energy and competitive spirit has been fantastic from the get-go. I can really tell that everyone is invested in achieving a bigger goal for this next season and finally turning this program around."
-GoJacks.com-
"I think a lot of assistant coaches think they're prepared, but being a head coach always has a way of surprising you and keeping you on your toes," said Georgalas as he talked about the transition from associate head coach to head coach. "This situation has definitely been an added challenge for sure. I've really enjoyed my time here so far. The community has really lent a helping hand and a warm welcome."
Things were moving in the right direction with the team and new coaching staff before the student-athletes went home for spring break.
"I keep applauding the team for their buy-in prior to spring break and before this whole situation went down," said Georgalas, who was recently named an Under 40 Coaching Hotshot by VolleyballMag.com. "Their receptiveness to a new training vocabulary, a new energy, a new coach in the gym, new system philosophies, new technical feedback; all of their receptiveness to everything was just phenomenal. I never received any resistance as a new coach coming in. Their buy-in and willingness to embrace being uncomfortable and trying new things was fantastic."
One thing Georgalas is trying to instill in his team is to be a professional in all areas of their life.
"We need to be professionals at how we carry ourselves in the community, how we carry ourselves in the classroom, nutritionally, our sleep schedule, what our work ethic is like on the volleyball court and in the weight room," the head coach expressed to his team. "All of these different worlds contribute to the life of being a successful college student-athlete."
The squad was set to increase its weekly practice hours and get into the full swing of spring training when they returned from spring break. However, during spring break the spread of COVID-19 increased. It was later announced that classes would be moved online for the rest of the semester and students were to remain at home. Additionally, State had three home scrimmages that were canceled.
The team and coaching staff have been doing weekly virtual meetings via zoom. The student-athletes have been provided with voluntary workouts to do from home, while Georgalas has also been sending volleyball training videos for the girls to watch just so that volleyball is still on their mind.
Georgalas told his team that the situation could be worse. While they are just missing out on offseason training, other team's competition seasons were canceled.
"We don't want to let this situation hurt the momentum that they created or negate the investment that they have already put in," Georgalas expressed to his team in a weekly zoom meeting. "What we're doing now away from each other will be noticed when we do get to join back up with each other."
In addition to the effect on athletics that COVID-19 has had, students and professors have also been tackling a new challenge of all online classes.
"A conversation we've had with the team is how important it is to create a schedule just as if you were on campus taking in-person classes," Georgalas said. "When they're on campus, more often than not, someone else is providing that structure for them. So, I think the challenging part is creating that type of structure for themselves."
Georgalas had just completed his coaching staff with the hire of assistant coach Courtney Chacon. She had just started her new roll at SDSU days before students were told to remain home.
"Courtney's impact is still yet to be felt in the gym, but she's been doing as much as she can to recruit remotely right now," Georgalas said.
Recruiting has also taken on a whole new look during this time, due to no on or off campus visits being allowed until at least May 31.
"We've been sending links to virtual campus tours so that our top recruits can see the facilities and campus," Gerogalas said. "We've been trying to communicate weekly with our recruits via zoom and things like that. We're also creating more social media content to not only spread more information about our program, but just show the team culture and what the girls are like."
With so much still unknown, all that Georgalas, his staff, and team can do is plan and hope for the time when things start to look up and everyone can be together again.
"We're really just trying to plan for the future, even though we don't know what it holds. That's where our efforts are at right now," said Georgalas. "The team's energy and competitive spirit has been fantastic from the get-go. I can really tell that everyone is invested in achieving a bigger goal for this next season and finally turning this program around."
-GoJacks.com-
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