University of Delaware Athletics
How Lily Rogers Became the Best Setter in the CAA
11/21/2024 10:00:00 AM | Volleyball
NEWARK, Del. - Lily Rogers' college career as Delaware's setter wasn't always simple - it has featured a late commitment, coaching turnover, position changes, and sporadic playing time. But now in her fifth season, Rogers' play on the court stands out among the best, culminating in being named CAA Setter of the Year and helping lead Delaware to a share of its first conference regular season title since 2011.
"It's definitely always something I knew I was capable of doing, given the chance," Rogers said. "Its been exciting to have the opportunity and have all of the coaches behind me and my teammates behind me. This is always what I've wanted to do, running a five-man and being able to kind of take control of the offense a little bit and be in this position."
Rogers committed to Delaware in May 2020, during the height of COVID-19 pandemic and as she was finishing up her time as a high school student. From St. Louis, she said Delaware wasn't at the top of her radar, but the coaching staff noticed an article about her and began reaching out.Â
"It went pretty quickly from there," Rogers said. "Just lucky the way it worked out."
Entering the 2019 season, Delaware's primary setter, Ezgi Basaranlar, turned in a historic year as a freshman. She was a CAA All-Rookie selection and averaged 10.61 assists per set, the most by a Delaware player since 2007. Basaranlar would go on to have one of the best careers in Delaware history, earning three all-conference and two CAA All-Tournament selections and finished with the fourth-most assists in program history during a five-year career. Without a direct path as UD's setter, Rogers started off playing a variety of positions for the Blue Hens.Â
Her and Delaware's freshman season was interrupted by the pandemic, as the Blue Hens played their games during the Spring of 2021. Rogers was named Second-Team All-CAA and was an all-rookie selection. Her season was highlighted by a 59-assist, 17-dig performance against Temple on Feb. 26.Â
"Coming in freshman year, initially I started off just being a defensive specialist, just playing back row," Rogers said. "And then it just kind of evolved wherever the team needed me to fill in. I think that was a cool opportunity for me just to be able to find court time wherever I could and contribute to the team however I could. It was nice to be pretty adaptable in that way."
During the fall of that year, her sophomore season, she appeared in all 28 matches and was second on the team with 41 aces. The Blue Hens were the No. 4 seed in the CAA Tournament before bowing out to eventual champion Towson in the semifinals. Rogers described her season as being able to play a role everywhere she could on the court. Delaware endured a coaching change after the season, with Kim Lambert moving from associate head coach to head coach.Â
Rogers was exclusively a hitter in 2022 as a junior. She turned in one of the most remarkable performances by a Delaware player ever in a match on Oct. 2 against Charleston with the program's sixth triple-double with 11 kills, 19 assists, and 17 digs.Â
"[Being a hitter] was a lot of fun," Rogers said. "I mean, that's every setter's dream."Â
UD finished with a record of 10-6 in the CAA, its best finish since 2011, before falling to Towson again in the CAA Tournament in the championship match.Â
The 2023 season was one of the best in Delaware's history. It set a program record for longest win streak that peaked with matching up with Towson in the CAA Tournament for the third-straight year and defeating them in four sets. The victory secured Delaware's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 years. Rogers, however, only played in 15 sets for the season, but was a key contributor in two-reverse sweep victories over Charleston and UNCW in October and recorded eight assists in Delaware's NCAA Tournament match against Missouri.Â
"It was weird coming in freshman year and being all-conference and then kind of feeling like I had dropped off," Rogers said. "That was kind of hard and I wrestled with that a little bit in my sophomore year, but I learned to take confidence from different areas. I've been really excited to be setting this year."
Despite all of that, Rogers never considered transferring.
"I was never unhappy with volleyball," Rogers said. "There's going to be points where someone's unhappy with playing time, but I was never unhappy. And the school always had so much to offer for me, so transferring never really crossed my mind."Â
With Basaranlar's graduation after the 2023 season, Rogers was handed the reins to the offense. It has resulted in her becoming the fourth player in program history to earn CAA Setter of the Year. On the strength of a 10-match win streak and program-record 18-consecutive set victories, Delaware won a share of the CAA Regular Season Championship for the first time since 2011. She has averaged 10.48 assists per set, the ninth most in a season in team history, and has been even better in conference play with 10.97 assists per set - the most by a CAA player since Spring 2021 season and the most in a full season since 2019. She is the only setter in the CAA to be named Offensive Player of the Week this year and is the first setter to earn the honor twice in a season since 2011.Â
Behind the scenes, Rogers attributes the coaching staff for her growth and success, especially with associate head coach Shawn McLaughlin.
"He's the setting coach, so doing film with him and more strategy-based brain work," Rogers said. "Setting is a lot more brain work than just physical technique, so I think that's been pretty helpful. We spend a lot of time together. He and Kennedi [Inman] and I all have joint film sessions and we have our own scouting report for the three of us. It's given me an extra kind of perspective to be able to look at the game and understand a little bit more of the little inner workings of a volleyball game."
Lambert credits Rogers' work ethic and determination to become a better player despite the positional changes.Â
"Lily has always been an exceptional hard worker and great teammate," Lambert said. "Many of the roles she was thrown into have come without warning and she approached each challenge completely unphased, like a pro. To me, that shows incredible character. I couldn't be happier that all that sacrifice and hard work paid off for Lily as her career comes to a close. She certainly deserves it."Â
Along with fellow fifth years Savannah Seemans and Kirah Johnson, Rogers is one of the longest-tenured players on the team. Her and Seemans are the only players remaining from the Spring 2021 season. With six players graduating from last season's championship team, Rogers said she has seen herself grow as a leader while taking on more of the responsibility with being on the court consistently.Â
"It's been nice to be able to step into that role," Rogers said. "It's hard to be someone that someone looks up to you if you're on the bench the whole time. There's been a lot of turnover from last year, so there's a lot of growth that we've come into with having a younger team and just not having as much experience as we did. Trying to get everyone on the same page like that has been been a big task for us all the fifth years and I think we're going really well and making all the right steps in the right direction."
Rogers said she's learned a lot about communication during her career, especially the last two years, and it is one of the biggest talking points as a team.
"I was always kind of someone that was a little bit more shy naturally and not very confrontational," Rogers said. "Having to step into this leadership role has taught me a lot about overcoming that and being able to have a tough conversation for the bigger goal. I think that's been one of the biggest things, especially in the last year."
Delaware won at least 10 CAA games for the third straight year for the first time since 2009-2011, and are 30-6 in conference play since the start of 2023..
"We've come a long way with my time here," Rogers said. " My freshman year we didn't even make the CAA tournament."Â
The Blue Hens head into this season's CAA Tournament with a first-round bye and the No. 2 seed for the second-straight year. Delaware will take on the winner of the hosts No. 3 Towson or No. 6 Stony Brook on Friday night, looking to defend its title in its final year as a member of the conference. Heading in, Rogers said there's a different feel from last year.Â
"I think it's put a target on our back a little bit more," Rogers said. "We've got something to prove. We know we're capable of it, and we know it's within our reach. We're going in with confidence, but the grittiness to work hard for it and grind it out. We know it's going to be a battle. It's a competitive conference this year. We'll hold our head high and be ready for a fight."
