August 20, 2009

PRESEASON 2009

Well the time for preparation is upon us in full swing now. We have been in the gym for just over a week with gruelling 2 and 3 practice session days. The progress of the team has been exceptional. We have made a commitment to the defensive aspects of the game and have become a better defensive "team" than the year before. We had some very good defensive players last year (Dena Kopfmann, 2nd-Team All GPAC Libero), but did not have the full team aspect of defense complete. With the loss of Dena I feel that our team this season understands the need to be a complete system defensive team. By system defense I mean that we have to be very precise with our positioning on the court and have the ability to balance our positioning on our side of the court when some takes a defensive gamble with their position. Defense is and will be our "calling card".

However, offensively we have made some very big improvements as well. We have put a lot of emphasis in speeding our offense up to the left and right side antennas. Fans will see a lot more shoot type sets to our outsides this season. It is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

With the departure of 3 very good athletes from last year's squad we will be looking for a lot of different people to step in to some different leadership roles this season. Our returning seniors, Amanda Aman, Leah Miiller, Rosebud Haukaas, and Jayna Morrill will all be expected to give consistent performances on the court as well as demanding leadership to the teammates. They will be an integral part of our transition to success for the program. Amanda will look to solidify an already impressive LS attacking position roster for us. Leah is very versatile and will see the court in a variety of roles that may have her as a MH in one game and a DS the very next. Rosebud will look to solidify our setting roster as well as be a candidate for a RS in a 6-2 setup. Jayna will be expected to provide great numbers from the MH position.

Our junior class has the largest amount of athletes in it due to our recruiting from last season bringing in a few JUCO transfers. This is a class that is setup to have some great success over the next two seasons. Our returning juniors are Ashley Kley, Jen Miner, Amye Brown, Kara Robertson, Wendy Schmaltz. Ashley and Jen will be expected to carry the offensive load for us this season and with there fitness will be able to last an entire match and still be able to finish off plays to the very last whistle. Amye will be competing for the starting libero position as will Wendy. Kara will see competition for both a left and right-side attacking positions. Our transfers for this class will be expected to step in right away and learn a new offense and defensive system quickly and contribute all season long. Megan Cronberg, Sarah Stahlke, and Carina Fesenmaier will all be expected to have solid seasons. Carina will take over our setting position and make our offense more balanced and unpredictable. Megan and Sarah are tall strong athletes that will compete for our L2 position on the varsity roster.

Our sophomore class has a combination of players that got some quality time last season and others looking to break into the lineup this season as well. Polly Gill, Kacie Sanderson, and Brooke Warne headline this class as the returners from last season's varsity roster. Polly will be in competition for our L2 position, while Kacie is expected to be our M2 and provide excellent blocking numbers for the team. Brooke will compete for the libero position as well as be a serving specialist for us. Other main contributors to this class are Kalissa Wade, Cassie Brinker and Rebecca Knox. Kalissa has made great improvements from a year ago and will compete for our backup setter position. Cassie is another that is involved with competition for the libero position and Becca is working to become a solid DS candidate and serving specialist.

Our freshman class is athletic and full of energy. Sam Flynn, Andrea Johnson, Nikki Gleich, Kayla O'Connell are all true freshmen with a lot of talent and bright futures. Sam is a dominate force at the net and always finds ways to score points. Andrea is transitioning from an OH position from high school into a MH for us and has been doing wonderfully. Nikki is in the battle for the starting libero position and Kayla is full of energy and a defensive gem for our roster. Lexi Townsend has transferred in and will be considered a freshman, she will be a DS candidate for us. Two others that will be considered redshirt freshmen are Amber Turner and Kristee Horn. Both are DS's and will be concentrating on getting a feel for the speed of the game and learning our defensive philosophy.

We are overly excite about this season and will update you very soon on our upcoming weekend in Orange City. Take care and Go Blue.

-Coach V