Name: Chris Nugent

Age: 24

Position: Outside Hitter

High School (Graduation Year): Fair Lawn High School (2013)

High School Accolades: 1st team all state (2012, 2013), NJ POY 2012

High School Club Team: Warren Sixpack

College Career (Graduation Year): Penn State University (2017)

College Accolades: 1st team all conference (16, 17), 2nd team all conference (15), 1st team conference tournament team (15, 16, 17), Honorable Mention All American 2016, 2nd Team All American 2017, Conference POY 2016, Member of 2013 Youth and 2015 Junior National Team

Major: Economics 

Professional Volleyball Career: Team Freedom, VK Ostrava (Czech Republic) 2017-2018

What made you choose volleyball?

 My parents and brother played their whole lives so they peaked my interest freshman year of high school. 

Tips:

What is your advice to high school players in general?

Embrace the grind.  Pushing you and your teammates everyday will give you the best opportunity to reach the next level.

Advice to the guys who play your position?

Hit for show, pass for dough 

If you could give tips to high school players on the following skills, what would you say?

Passing

Athletic position, stable feet, elbows locked, watch the ball hit your arms, feet face where the ball is coming from… shoulders face the target.

Defense

Always on your toes, don’t be afraid to hit the floor, be stopped when the hitter makes contact.

Hitting

Don’t get underneath the ball… you’ll lose sight of the block. Aggressive/explosive last 2 steps. Blockers hands are your friends and the easy way to score a point on a double/triple block. Keep swinging if you make a couple errors in a row. If you aren’t in a good position to score a point don’t make an error by blasting it out or into the net, chip it to the setter and let your defense earn the point.

Blocking

Eyes on the ball, palms pointed to 6, don’t drift, seal and penetrate over the net, think of grabbing the ball from the hitters hands (aggressive)

Serving

Serving the stack can be very effective especially when it is in zone 2. When floating, pick a target and serve their seam/keep them moving. When jumping, keep the ball in front of you, aim for seams… even the hardest jump serve is easy if it’s right at the passer, a good float serve is almost always better than an OK jump serve