Friendships Serve Teams Well on Court : Volleyball: Such relationships foster nonverbal communication, which can give players an edge.

A glance here. A wink there. Outstretched fingers behind the back.

These are the tools of nonverbal communication. It comes with the territory for the generals of volleyball.

An outstanding setter can make a bad team good, a good team great. There are few statistics to measure their effectiveness outside the win-loss column. And in the course of a season, their relationship with their teammates is more important than their bond with their coach.

Sometimes, those relationships become more than just routine. Best friendships emerge, and on the court, amid a flurry of activity where a team makes the transition from defense to offense, from becoming scared rabbit to striking cobra, a subtle glance can speak volumes.

The relationship between setter and hitter often determines a team’s fortunes. Need an edge? How about an ability to act and react at the subtlest level of communication?

“It’s like when you know what outfit your friend is going to wear to a party,” Mission Viejo middle blocker Nina Foster said. “I know what Analisa (Saylor) is going to set.”

A hitter and setter alone do not turn teams into winners, not when six players are involved. But it makes a difference when two players, specifically the setter and an outside hitter or middle blocker, get to know each other well. The better the relationship off the court, it seems, the better they perform on it.

Foster and Saylor are best friends. So are Mater Dei’s Allison Stricklin and Heather Daze (pronounced Dah-zay). Each pair are also teammates on their respective volleyball clubs.

And they trust each other on and off the court.

“We couldn’t get anything done if we didn’t,” Stricklin said. “She has to trust that I’m going to get the ball to her and I have to trust her that she can put it away.

“Having that trust in one another helps us play with confidence, and if we play with confidence, then our team will play with confidence. It gives us a chance to set an example for everyone else.”

It is the one relationship on the court that demands attention.

“(The setter is) the person I communicate the best with because I have to,” Daze said. “We have to be able to tell each other what we need to do without sounding like we’re putting each other down. . . . Two hitters don’t necessarily need to get along. The passers need to, but hitters, well, that’s individual, besides the setter.

“It’s probably a much more mature relationship (than any other on the court). It has to be. In order to achieve what we have to achieve, we have to treat each other with respect rather than being selfish. If you don’t, your game won’t click.”

That mature relationship involves meaningful communication--spoken or not. Open lines mean the setter learns what the hitter needs, the hitter learns the setter’s timing.

“All (physical abilities) being equal,” Daze said, “the person with the more mature relationship with the setter will achieve more.”

For the setter, that relationship means being part mother hen, part psychiatrist.

“If I’m feeling bad and not hitting well,” Foster said of Saylor, “she knows if she turns around and says something about my hitting, I’ll go in the tank.”

Ah, feelings. They have to be massaged.

“It’s almost like I’m an actress,” Saylor said. “If (Foster’s) late, I see it. If she’s early, I see it. She would rather not hear (criticism) from me. With Nina, it’s hard to tell her something like that; I have to tell the coach and have him tell her.

“Even if she wails the ball out, I have to be very positive. With other hitters, I can be very honest. With Nina, I can’t get negative at all. Every player is different, and the setter has to get used to all the different players. Last year, Karen Benkovsky (a club volleyball teammate now at Washington), when something went wrong, she laughed; I was used to people getting ticked off.”

The setter deals with five temperaments at once, and not all her resources can go to just one person, so close friendships sometimes cut corners when the setter needs to get her point--or directions--across.

The hitter and setter work so closely together, the tight-knit friendship that often forms consistently pays dividends.

“We can really be open with each other,” Stricklin said of her relationship with Daze. “We can tell each other what the other is doing wrong and offer positive criticism. There’s never a time when I don’t feel I can’t say something to her, and I feel it helps us both to improve.”