For the past 14 years, I have been an avid fan of the sport of volleyball. I have played recreational volleyball for the past four years and consider myself a fairly decent athlete.

While watching and learning from the ISU volleyball team for the last three years — I’ve missed only one home match — I often wondered what it would be like to be on the wrong side of a kill from somebody like Victoria Henson.

On Monday, I finally got the chance. After getting permission from coach Christy Johnson, I pulled on my knee pads and took the court with the Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum.

Of course, I knew there was no way I would be able to stack up against women who have been playing the sport for most of their lives, so in the midst of what was most likely certain humiliation, I was just hoping to learn a thing or two.

Johnson, who was a two-time All-American setter at Nebraska, first had me jump into setting drills with junior setter Kaylee Manns, an All-Conference performer at her position. It was just two minutes into practice, and I was already standing in some pretty elite company. Surprising to me, the first ball out of my hands was a beauty, and would have surely been hammered to the floor by an outside hitter. But that feeling didn’t last long.

Before my first-hand experience, I never realized just how consistent these players have to be. While Manns caressed each ball with a soft touch that resulted in a perfect set and nearly no spin every time, I started to send my sets to the wrong side of the net, 5 feet short of the target.

The next drill moved me to a hitting position, where I was excited at the opportunity to take swings on the shorter women’s nets. But unfortunately for me, the drill had players hitting from the right side of the net, a position I have never been comfortable with. Despite my inexperience and ineptness, I quickly learned the art of hitting the slide shot.

To start, Manns served up back sets to four players before me and they all had similar results: a bullet to the hardwood. Any guesses on my first swing? Straight into the net.

I continued to take awkward swings into the opposing block of assistant coach Joe Lynch, but then received some expert advice from someone who hit a few successful slides in their day. Director of Volleyball Operations and former ISU middle blocker Jesse Klein approached me with a few mechanical pointers, and my attacks finally began to find the floor. After getting the hand of the shot, I was absolutely amazed with how many things went into one single shot.

The slide is one of several typical shots seen in a match, and I discovered there are at least five different ways of hitting it. Players correctly acted out the coaches’ instructions the majority of the time, alternating swinging down the line, using the block, and hitting sharp cross court. As I watched senior Jen Malcom continually rip balls past the block, I found my goal was to just make some kind of solid contact with the ball.

After several failed attempts to dig torpedoes hit by several Cyclone outside hitters, I peeled myself off the Hilton Coliseum floor and made my way to the bench. After about an hour and 15 minutes of practice, I was not bumped or bruised, but certainly sore. I had been put in my place.

After all the intramural volleyball glory I’ve had in the last five semesters, I found out what it was like to survive the practice of a premier Division I volleyball team.

And to be honest, I don’t know how these players do this every day. It just goes to show how dedicated a collegiate student-athlete really is.

— Travis J. Cordes is a junior in chemistry from La Vista, Neb.