Nold: "Never again"

It’s been a different kind of year for JSU volleyball coach Rick Nold, and one he vows to “never have it again … Not for the same reason.“
After averaging 21 wins over the last five years with two trips to the NCAA Tournament, the Gamecocks have fallen on hard times. They are 7-18 overall, 3-11 in the OVC this year.
They have never had a losing season under Nold before this year. They went 14-14 in his first season, but haven‘t won fewer than 18 matches or lost more than 11 -- against an increasingly more demanding schedule -- since.
The Gamecocks have a young squad, and Nold insists “we’re not very far off of being a really good team,” but things just haven’t fallen right for them. They thought they were getting a player to build around and didn’t learn it wasn’t going to happen until late, and then they suffered a major injury.
“Sometimes you’re gonna have those years,” Nold said. “We’ll deal with it and make sure we don’t get in that situation again.
“It’s always good to experience a little of everything -- but not twice.”
Interestingly, the Gamecocks still have a mathematical shot at making the conference tournament.
At lot of things have to happen, including running the table in their last four OVC matches -- all on the road -- and sweeping UT Martin 3-0 in the final match of the year. They play Eastern Illinois (4-21) and SE Missouri (11-11) this weekend, before finishing at Murray State (12-12) and Martin (8-20).