Change of command for Milford girls volleyball

Beth Solan is in her eighth season with the Milford High School girls volleyball team, but this one has been a lot different than the ones that came before it.

From 2004-07, Solan was a varsity starter for the Spartans, playing for longtime head coach Chuck Roberson and helping Milford reach the final four twice in what used to be Class I.

After finishing college, Solan returned to Milford to serve as the assistant coach and junior varsity coach under Roberson, as the Spartans reached the Division II title game in 2014 and returned to the final four again last year, the program's first trips since the early 2000s.

But going into this year, things were a lot different for Solan and the Milford program.

For the first time since Roberson started the program, someone new would be the head coach.

"It's been interesting," Solan said of the first few weeks of her tenure as the Spartans head coach. "It's been hard in some cases because the girls kind of had a mindset coming in knowing Roberson and his legacy. I was trying to make sure I wasn't doing the silly thing of living up to what he is.

"I'm not going to. He was here for a number of years. He coached me. There was no way I was going to live up to him, so I had to take it to 'OK, what do I want this program to be?' "

So far, Solan has answered that question by taking the things that she learned from Roberson as a player and a coach, and putting her own spin on them. One thing she's stressed to the team - which returned just two seniors this season - has been support for one another.

"Yes we can use some aspects of his system and what worked for him, but we're going to use my thought process," she said. "Making sure you're supportive of your teammates is something I've been pushing this year.

"We have a very young squad. We only have two returning seniors and the rest are underclassmen. My setter is a sophomore, one of my middles is a freshman."

With the team being young, and with most of the girls playing for Solan on the junior varsity, the transition on the court and in practice has been smoother than she might have imagined. And at 6-2 at the midway point in Division II, the Spartans have kept themselves right in the mix.

"They knew my style of coaching and how I was going to come into the gym," Solan said. "That made the transition easier, but at the same time, there is a difference. I was able to step in and have the support of the girls. They really helped and they were very much leaders during the summers and preseason."

Milford hosts Gilford (6-1) on Wednesday.