Deputy Sports Editor Clark Leonard sat down with volleyball coach Charita Stubbs on Wednesday to discuss her first season with the program. Stubbs played collegiate volleyball at the University of Arizona and was an assistant with the Wildcats for the past 10 years before taking the N.C. State job.
Technician: How would you describe your first season so far?Stubbs: Interesting, because each day is a new day. Each day is a learning experience. Each day you find something that’s a little bit more thought provoking, where you go, ‘hmm,’ interesting than the day before.
Technician: What has surprised you since the season started?Stubbs: These are good questions, Clark. Many things have surprised me since the beginning of the season. To be honest, I am quite surprised we haven’t won some matches. I’d be kidding myself if I said that I wasn’t because we’ve had the opportunity. And so I’m surprised. I’m not surprised when we play well because I always expect it, but I am surprised when we’re not ready to play where we had shown it every day that we were ready to play up until that moment.
Technician: What has been worse than you thought it would be?Stubbs: The officiating … I never blame the match on the officiating, but I am amazed at how loose the ACC calls balls.
Technician: What has been better than you thought it would be?Stubbs: I guess I never thought anything would be bad, so I can’t say that anything’s any better because you don’t have anything to gauge it on. Now, next year will be a perfect time to ask that question because everyone’s kind of set the standards for where the value is and how they look at you and whether they’re going to support you or not. So all that’s a new experience, so I couldn’t say anything’s better because I didn’t have anything to gauge it on.
Technician: With the struggles so far, have you ever second-guessed your decision to come here?Stubbs: No. You noticed I struggled on every other question, so no. I’ve never regretted my decision. I believe that we’re where we’re supposed to be for a reason, big believer that God didn’t bring me this far just to kind of leave me now in the midst of the struggles or whatnot. I think that this season has been a learning experience for the girls, as well as myself. I think that they have gotten a better idea of who I am as a person. I think that they understand my coaching, good or bad, they do understand it … I think that I’ve raised the level of volleyball here. And I know in the near future that we’re going to be on the winning side of it. But, I don’t know if a lot of people remember it, but in the beginning I said it wasn’t about the wins and losses. It’s about how we approach each match and how we step up to it. So I couldn’t be sorry because as a result of being here, I became a better person.
Technician: Do you think much about Arizona?Stubbs: Well, I talk to [Arizona coach] Dave [Rubio], well just about every day. And I go online just to see how they’re doing. And the amazing thing is they’re struggling too. They’ve won one conference game. And for different reasons … but I look at that team, and I say that’s a lot like our team in the sense that when they’re good — you can’t stop them. But they make a ton of unforced errors. Now, the difference is they’re a lot more physical than we are, so when they make the unforced errors, it’s not as bad … so I do follow up with them. I mean, I went to school there. I spent a large portion of my time there. I talk to several of the kids still.
Technician: Has your experience there as a player there [at Arizona] been able to help you deal with the tough season you’ve had?Stubbs: Yes, because the year that we went 0-18 in the Pac-10, my first playing year — I think back on that year a lot in regards to how the kids are feeling. Sometimes I’ll say, ‘You know, you guys, you look as if you’re ready for the season to be over’ because I know I had teammates who was looking for the season to be over. It’s like, ‘OK, let’s just wipe it all away and get a fresh start.’ But I also knew that, and this was probably more so the next year when we did better — we won four conference games when Dave came in — each day is a learning experience. The year we went to the Final Four at Arizona, we were still teaching. There was still learning taking place. And everyone was like, ‘Well, what are you trying to teach at this point?’ You never know when a kid will get it so you want to always take every opportunity when you’re in the gym, when you’re in the match, even when we’re down. We could be down by 20 points — I still expect the kids to work hard because I expect that opportunity to be a time where you can get up and do something that you hadn’t done before.
Technician: Have you had the chance to talk with coach Rubio about your team since the season started?Stubbs: Yes. After Maryland, I called him, and I don’t think he got to say a word edgewise because I was just like, ‘Dave, I can’t believe this. We’re up 2-0, and we lost.’ And he constantly brings me back to where my focus should be. Because I’m so competitive, I’m looking for instant gratification in a lot of ways, kind of like the kids are … so he tells me, he says, ‘Rita, just take your time. This year is a year where you kind of set the standards. You let kids know how you’re going to be, what you expect. And it’s a learning process. It’s not necessarily where you go out and try to [worry] about the wins and losses.’ Now, I do understand that. It didn’t take him to tell me that, but it’s nice to kind of hear him kind of bring you back to where your focus ultimately should be.
Technician: What do you expect from your final six matches?Stubbs: I expect to win, as I do every match. I expect each match to be a challenge because, once again, we are trying to overcome some hurdles. And I’d say our hurdles is more internal. It has essentially nothing to do with the team we’re playing against. Last night, for example, out of the 90 points that Chapel Hill scored, we gave them 46 — so more than half of their points we gave them — I firmly believe they want to win. Everyone knows that. Who doesn’t want to win? But it’s what are you doing on a daily basis to put yourself in a position to deserve to win? It’s not showing up to practice because everyone knows how to do that. You don’t show up — you don’t play. You’re not on the team. It’s a no-brainer. It’s not talking, per se, because everyone can talk. It’s are you making the extra effort to do better? And that’s one of the things that we did at Arizona that’s different than here. I was in there watching film every opportunity I had. I was taking film home. I was asking questions — the kids don’t quite understand that it takes more than what you’re doing. It takes more than that because what you’re doing, everyone else is doing.
