15 club volleyball tryout tips from a Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee and elite club coach who's helped hundreds of athletes navigate tryouts successfully.

Rita Crockett aka The Rocket Outside Hitter An Olympic Silver Medalist

An outside hitter, Rita was nicknamed "Rocket" because of her jumping ability and speed was one of the top outside hitters in the world in the 80's and 90's.

Outside hitter, Rita Crockett nicknamed "Rocket" because of her jumping ability and speed was one of the top outside hitters in the world in the 80's and 90's

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Volleyball Player Profile Rita Crockett

An outside hitter, Rita who was nicknamed "Rocket" because of her jumping ability and speed was one of the top outside hitters in the world throughout the 80's and 90's.

Volleyball Player Profile of an
Olympic Volleyball Player

Rita was a member of the 1980 Olympic team, which boycotted the Olympic Games.

She made her second Olympic team which participated in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles which won the first women's Olympic silver medal ever for the United States.

1980 Olympic Games (Boycott Moscow Olympics)

1984 Olympic Games (Silver Medal)

Volleyball Player Profile
USA Volleyball Player

Rita Crockett "The Rocket" World Championship Experience

Rita Crockett
Major International Competition

Joined the US National team in 1978
1981 Won Bronze medal at the World Cup
1983 Won Silver medal - Pan American Games
1984 Won Silver medal at the Los Angeles Olympics
2011 International Volleyball Hall of Fame Induction

Rita Crockett
Professional Volleyball Player

"Rocket" played professionally in Japan, Italy the US and Switzerland before becoming an elite pro beach volleyball champion in the United States.

1982-1986 played professional volleyball with the Daiei team in Japan

1986 won the Japan volleyball professional championship with Daiei Team, Kobe in Japan

1986-1987 played in one season of the Major League Volleyball in the United States

1986 won the Most Valuable Player award during the Major League Volleyball

1988-1993 played in Italy on the A-1 division teams in the cities of Matera and Roma

1991 Italian Professional Volleyball League - Most Valuable Player

1993 led the Roma team to the European Championship

1994-1996 served as player/coach with RTV Basel Switzerland Team and won the Swiss Cup

1994-1996 Four-time MVP and winner of the Swiss Cup

Rita Crockett
Beach Volleyball

1989 World Beach Volleyball Championships - winner

1990 with Angela Rock finished second at the World Beach Volleyball Championships

Four seasons with the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA)

Two seasons with the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP)

Rita Crockett
Coaching

1998-2004 Coach, University of Iowa
2004-2005 Associate Head Coach, Florida State

Currently Executive Director, President and Head Coach of the North Florida Volleyball Association

Currently owner Rita Crockett Volleyball Camps & Clinics

Currently Assistant Athletic Director Florida International University, Head Volleyball Coach

Five Fun Facts about Rita

Did you know that Rita....

Started playing volleyball, basketball and ran tracks in high school and earned a scholarship for both basketball and volleyball but chooses to fully focus her energy on volleyball.

Before invited to the national team her college coach took her to try for the junior national team but she ended up being rejected the same day because the coach decided she was too small.

The national coach at that time personally invited her to play in the national team.

She is known for her 36-inch vertical leap and her nickname "Rocket".

Rita is named the 2015 AVCA National Sand Coach of the Year

Quotes and Motivational Questions and Answers with Rita

What advice can you give to juniors, college athletes, pros, future and current Olympians to help them strive for greatness?

Be humble. Take care of your body. Take care of your mind. And just enjoy the sport and have fun. If you’re not having fun, it’s not worth doing…

When it stops being fun, get out.

Check yourself every now and then. I think it’s important to look around and appreciate all that volleyball has become and what we have achieved as a whole.

What advice would you give to FIU athletes who are competing in the Olympics for the first time?

Try and keep everything in perspective. You have to realize it’s not about you, but the country you’re playing for. I realized that this is bigger than me. It’s not my Olympics, it’s my country’s Olympics. For me, I’m one of 12 people chosen for women’s volleyball to go and do the best for my country. When you keep that in mind, your fears go away, your confidence goes up and your pride comes out and you just do what you do.

FIU: Questions for a former Olympian

Beach Volleyball Database: Rita Crockett

My San Antonio; San Antonio native Rita Buck Crockett inducted into Hall of Fame

Olympics Rita Crockett

The NVL: Former Olympian Rita Crockett Talks Shop

Wikipedia Rita Crockett

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Private or semiprivate volleyball indoor/sand lessons are an excellent way for young Las Vegas high school volleyball players to quickly improve their individual skills through a private or semi-private coaching experience. These lessons are conducted by former pro volleyball player, former USA Volleyball High Performance instructor and Evaluator and Tstreet Vegas 18s head Coach April Chapple on a weekly basis. Sign up now!

Follow me on Pinterest Volleybragswag to improve your game even faster!

I share alot of individual, partner and easy-to-do volleyball serving drills we do in class with my followers.

Many of these volleyball practice drills you can do at home by yourself or try at your next practice with your teammates.

If you're a B team or JV player trying to make varsity next year...your goal should be to complete 1000 reps a day of at least three of the basic skills on your own...volleyball passing, serving and setting should be at the top of the list.

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Honored At UTK Champions Weekend

Lady Vol volleyball legend and record holder Coach April Chapple a University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hall of Fame Inductee, 3-time All American, 3-time SEC Champion, SEC Tournament MVP, 2-time All SEC Team is celebrated with her 1984 SEC champion teammates at Neyland Stadium during Champions Weekend on November 1-2, 2024.

utkaprilcollegepiconneylandstadiumvideoboard

Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee, Coach April Chapple is

the first First Round Draft Pick for the first American pro indoor women's league
named to the first First Team All-Pro team for Major League Volleyball in USA volleyball history
former USA National team member
one of the few American women players named as an Italian Pro League D-I Championship Finalist, Italian Cup Finalist and Cup of Cups Tournament Finalist

April Chapple The first First round Draft Pick For Major League Volleyball the first American Women's Pro League Honored At Athlete Unlimited Pro Volleyball Match

Coach April's 2025 Private and Semi private Volleyball Training

Pre-Registration now open for 2025 Private and Semiprivate Training Sessions with Coach April . Get prepared for club tryouts or train with me during club season!

Email now for information on semiprivate or private indoor skills, individual or small group training volleyball classes and my Breakfast Club for College Players training for 2025.

Invest in your improvement while preepping for your next level and college goals while working hard and training smart.

Email me right now to register or for more information.

info@improveyourvolley.com

Serving slang is not just about individual techniques; it also relates to overall game strategy. A coach might instruct a player to serve a "short serve" or a "deep serve" to target specific areas of the opponent's court or exploit weaknesses in their serve receive formation.

Ari, my private training client and I are working specifically on serving on jump float cross court serves ...short to Zone 2

There's so much we work on to get to this point where she can contact the ball with

the same toss height and same toss location
the same armswing speed
the same timing for when her serving hand contacts the ball
the middle of the hand contacting the middle of the ball every single time
getting use to watching her serving hand contact the ball at the highest point of her jump ...before she starts to land
and finally contacting the ball in the precise spot on the ball so it goes where the coach wants the player to put it so in this case ..a short serve in the farthest short right corner on the court also called Zone 2.

kamiminerpac12setteroftheyearformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

Tommi Stockham All Big West Conference sophomore former Coach April Chapple private client 3 years

katepriorallwestcoastconferencebyufreshmanformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

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Dear Vegas Parent

Read my open letter to Las Vegas Jr high/high school volleyball parents about my predictions on individual and small group volleyball training trends for 2019/2021

Tennessee Athletics Honors April Chapple at Champions Weekend for Legendary Volleyball Achievements

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Produces Powerful Passionate Players...is that you?

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Congratulations to my seven Boys-18s Vegas Volley club players who played in two state championship finals yesterday, the 3A and 5A State champinship finals at Sunrise Mountain High School.

TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!

A-1 Vegas Volley VBC

In It To Win It Tournament

May 2 - 4, 2025 Tournament

Gold Medalists

18s Premier Division

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Making A-1 Vegas Volleyball history as the very first TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS! In the In It To Win It Tournament, May 2-4, 2025 Tournament, A-1 Vegas Volleyball Club Gold Medalists, 18s Premier Division