The three years Karis Beasley spent elsewhere have made her appreciate where she is now and what she values most, she said.

“I think it was a transition I needed for sure, although, I loved Auburn,” said Beasley, the James Madison volleyball senior defensive specialist.

Beasley joined the Dukes as a graduate transfer before last season after beginning her career as a member of the Tigers in the Southeastern Conference.

“Loved the school, the people I met there and the atmosphere,” Beasley said of Auburn. “It’s very different. Bigger school. Bigger football and all of that, but volleyball wise, this is the better fit for me. The close connection we have with the team and even with the [coaching] staff here is something I didn’t have as much at Auburn, and maybe that’s because it is a bigger school there.”

Last fall, JMU finished 20-8 overall and 13-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association for its sixth straight winning campaign under coach Lauren Steinbrecher, who has been at the helm of the Dukes since 2010. Steinbrecher guided JMU to reach the last four CAA championship games as well as NCAA tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017.

Beasley said one of the reasons she thinks Steinbrecher has been able to build and maintain a successful program is because she’s an excellent communicator while both instructing her players and listening to them. And Beasley noted the important trait Steinbrecher uses only proved its value through an extended offseason in which players were forced to disperse from Harrisonburg for longer than usual due to coronavirus, be without the sport they love for months and ultimately have their season postponed.

Steinbrecher held regular Zoom calls and Beasley said most of the time those video meetings allowed teammates to get to know one another on a deeper level than just how they could help the team win. Teammates learned about where each other were from and about their families, which Beasley said has boosted chemistry within the group.

JMU restarted practices during the last week of September, and Steinbrecher said she is hoping these drills help prepare her athletes for competition come the spring semester.

According to Steinbrecher, the Dukes have enough talent on their roster to continue their winning ways in the spring of 2021.

“We’re psycho about culture and all being on the same page and doing the right things,” Steinbrecher said, “and I think that helps in consistency of where we’re able to perform.”

The 11th-year Dukes coach said JMU is likely to open its unconventional season in early February, even though the NCAA says volleyball competition can begin as soon as Jan. 22. The schedule will probably consist of only CAA action plus however far JMU can go in the postseason.

Steinbrecher said she’s using practices now to simply acclimate her players to the game again.

Beasley likened these workouts to a typical spring for a volleyball program when it is only starting preparations for a normal fall season.

“They just took so much time off,” Steinbrecher said, “and not only from volleyball but even with not having access to a weight room. So injury prevention is a huge component for us right now. We are only jumping like 50, 60 jumps per practice when usually we’d get 100, 150, so bringing them in slow and so it means a lot less six-on-six and being able to play volleyball, but we’re breaking down fundamentals and ball control.”

The team is also evaluating how to replace three standout seniors – outside hitter Briley Brind’Amour, middle blocker M’Kaela White and setter Sarah Martin – graduated off of last year’s squad and the leadership they provided.

Beasley is the most seasoned player on the roster. In her debut year with the Dukes last fall, she played in all 93 sets and tallied 208 digs, the second most for any player on the roster.

“With three years of playing SEC ball, she just kind of has a competitive attitude where nothing is going to faze her,” Steinbrecher said of Beasley. “She has confidence, and just to have someone who can handle our first ball contact is huge.”

Other returning players Steinbrecher expects significant contributions from are junior libero Savannah Marshall, sophomore middle hitter Sophia Davis and sophomore setter Caroline Dozier. Davis racked up 257 kills season to earn All-CAA first team and All-CAA rookie team honors last season.

Freshmen Miëtte Veldman, a Lord Botetourt product, and Elizabeth Helmich are expected play significant roles, too. Steinbrecher said Helmich is, “probably the most polished and high-profile player,” she has ever recruited to JMU. Helmich was a two-time first-team All-State selection in Minnesota and had Big Ten suitors before committing to play for the Dukes.

“We’re very, very young,” Steinbrecher said. “I think in our junior and senior classes, we only have two scholarship athletes, so we’re very young. Having said that, the young players are talented and I think you’ll see some, ‘Oh stupid, freshman mistake,’ but also like ‘Wow, they’re able to do a lot of cool things.’

“And this year, I just don’t see how any programs are going to be exceptional. We’re all going through the boat of we’re under trained, but we’ll be right in the mix.”

Said Beasley: “[Steinbrecher] always has a plan and wants it to be followed. As a team, we have to come together and make sure her plan is followed, because Lauren knows what she’s doing as a coach and has the experience. She knows what it’s like to win, so it’s us having to be united as a program and understand the steps we need to take.”

As for now, Steinbrecher, Beasley and the rest of the Dukes are just enjoying being around each other as they return to the routine of practice and regain a taste of normalcy.

“It’s funny,” Steinbrecher said. “You don’t realize how much you appreciate things until you lose them, and so we always joke like it’s ‘four straight days of practice’ or ‘five straight days of practice’ and we took that for granted our whole lives, so it’s been amazing. Every day when practice ends we’re like, ‘Imagine how good we can be if we could actually train or keep doing this.’”

Editor’s Note: This story is one in a series of stories examining the teams at James Madison as they return to practice following long layoffs and postponed or abbreviated seasons due to the coronavirus.