USU women’s volleyball team prepares for first challenge
It’s only the first week of school, but it’s already exam time for the Utah State women’s volleyball team.
The Aggies were picked to finish seventh in the Big West preseason coaches poll and third-year coach Burt Fuller said it’s time to find out how much his team has learned since last season.
“It’s probably a pretty realistic ranking for us right now,” Fuller said. “We have something to prove this year. With so many new untested kids, we’ll just have to see how we can develop, how fast we can learn.”
The Aggies take their first test Friday as they travel to Ogden to compete in the Weber State Tournament.
The Aggies will start the season with three tournaments and a game against the University of Utah before beginning conference play on Oct. 2. USU will face four teams this year ranked in USA Today’s preseason Top 25: No. 2 Hawaii, No. 15 Kansas State, as well as conference foes No. 9 UC Santa Barbara and No. 16 Long Beach State.
The Big West is one of the toughest conferences in the country, Fuller said, but his team won’t overlook any opponent.
“They’re all ranked according to us,” he said. “We always have tough opponents in our conference.”
Fuller said the strength of his team lies in the players’ work ethic and good camaraderie. He also said the team is farther ahead this year than it was at the same time last year.
“We’re going to start off at a little bit higher level offensively from the get-go because we have a lot of returners,” Fuller said. “I think we’re handling the ball pretty well as far as getting the ball to the setter. Once we do that, if our middles are connecting, that kind of opens up the offense.”
Five starters are returning for an Aggie team that finished seventh in the Big West last year. The rest of the team is made up of freshmen getting their first taste of collegiate volleyball. With so many inexperienced players, Fuller said he will rely heavily on team captains Erin Cartwright and Taubi Neves, the only seniors on the team.
“We hold our captains to a higher standard,” Fuller said. “We expect them to be good role models and we expect them to play hard.”
Cartwright, an outside hitter, was named a first-team all-Big West player as a junior and won Player of the Week honors twice last year. She is ranked in the top 10 in USU volleyball history in hitting percentage, kills, blocks, block assists and attacks.
“Erin’s going to get kills, Taubi’s going to have some great defensive plays, and that’s their role right now,” Fuller said.
Neves said the team’s biggest goal this season is to make it to the NCAA tournament and she thinks they are up to the challenge.
“It could be tough, but I think we can do it,” Neves said.
The other returning starters are Big West Co-Freshman of the Year Zuzana Cernianska, junior Andrea Delsigne and sophomore Ingrid Roth.
Because of a leg injury to freshman Carolyn Forbush, Cernianska will be moved to the left side this year, her third position, Fuller said.
Despite the move, Fuller said Cernianska is one of the most improved players on the team. She learned new techniques over the summer that have “made her more dynamic and given her more options.”
Delsigne, a setter, is the other player Fuller said has made the biggest improvements.
“Andrea Delsigne has made some huge strides,” he said. “She is now becoming a pretty nice setter to have, and we’ve got her for two more seasons.”
Two new assistant coaches will join Fuller on the sidelines this year – former Aggie Heather Olmstead and Emerson Salonga, who comes to USU after seven years as an assistant at UCLA.
Olmstead was a four-year starter who played for Fuller during his first year at Utah State.
“[Olmstead] knows what I expect and she knows what I want,” Fuller said. “As one of the top defensive players in the history of the school, she also demands a lot from them. She has a standard she wants to have them maintain.”
Salonga arrived in Logan in time for spring practices. Fuller said his strength is the technical aspect of volleyball.
“[Salonga] has a very good volleyball mind,” Fuller said. “The girls really like him and are willing to respond very well for him. Once we get into the season, it’s going to be really helpful to have [Salonga and Olmstead’s] insights on the bench and in communicating with the players.”
-royburton@cc.usu.edu