Ag spikers prepared for season
It’s a familiar situation facing the Utah State University women’s volleyball team.
Last year, after a 22-win season and a No. 22 national ranking, the Aggies returned seven letter winners.
This year, after winning 20 matches and being ranked No. 21, the Aggies are returning only six letter winners, two of whom didn’t play in spring practice.
“The difference is last season. Most of those kids that were playing for us were training with us in the spring, so we were ahead by the time we started,” said Aggie Head Coach Burt Fuller. “A lot of the kids that are probably in our starting group right now were not here for the spring, so everything is new for them.”
With nine newcomers, cohesion and maturity will be challenges, Fuller said.
“We have our work cut out for us to formulate a team and become cohesive, but I think we can do that because we’ve got good players and good athletes,” he said.
Middle blocker Erin Cartwright said, “I think our biggest improvement needs to be our maturity. I think we’re really young right now and I think we need to just grow as a team and get more mature.”
Here is a position-by-position breakdown of the Aggies this season:
Setters
The Aggies are returning two players who can play setter – senior Emily Kennedy and sophomore Andrea Delsigne.
Kennedy set during the spring and Delsigne sat out with a knee injury. Fuller said Delsigne is probably the front runner.
“[Delsigne] didn’t get a lot of experience last year plus she didn’t play during the spring so it’s a fresh start for her as well,” he said.
Utah State has also brought in two potential setters in junior college transfer Taubi Neves and freshman Zuzana Cernianska from the Czech Republic.
Outside hitters/Opposites
Utah State returns two outside hitters, Shauni Fluckiger and Hailey (MacKay) Seedall.
Seedall sat out the spring and summer with knee problems but has returned to finish out her senior year.
“She’ll probably be used in a limited role, but in a limited role we can use her for some things,” Fuller said.
Newcomers are the sisters Zuzana and Tereza Cernianska and Crystal Thisselle. Ingrid Roth, Danelle Peart, Lesley Hudson and Cartwright may also see time at the position.
Middle Blockers
USU has added depth at middle, but with the graduation of all-conference player Michelle Matheson, the team still has a hole to fill.
“We’ve got depth but three of the middles we’ve brought in are freshmen so the experience isn’t there,” Fuller said.
The newcomers are three freshmen: Jenna Jordan, Stacy Kartchner and Roth.
Returning for the Aggies are Cartwright, an honorable mention all-team Big West player last season, and senior Rickie Rigby.
Liberos
One rule change in women’s NCAA Division I volleyball is the addition of the libero.
The libero is a back-row defensive specialist who wears a different colored jersey. A libero can’t serve, can’t jump and attack and can’t use her hands to set an attacker in front of the three-meter line.
“It adds a little more spice to the game,” Fuller said. “It’s fun to see somebody with a different colored jersey out there.”
Kennedy said, “It’s awesome. It gives a defensive player more opportunity to play.”
The Aggies have four players on their roster who may potentially play as libero.
Kennedy played as a defensive specialist last season and USU also has Peart, Hudson and Neves to fill the role.
Utah State played in its first tournament, the Southwest Missouri State Fall Invitational, Aug. 30 and 31. The Aggies lost their first two matches to Southwest Missouri State University and the University of Arkansas. In their third match, the Aggies defeated Southeast Missouri State University 3-0 for their first victory of the season.
Friday and Saturday the Aggies were in Texas for the Longhorn Classic. Utah State lost Friday to the University of Texas before winning matches over the University of Texas-El Paso 3-1 and the University of Texas-San Antonio 3-0.
In their final tournament before the conference season begins, the Aggies will compete in the Rhode Island Classic Friday and Saturday. USU will begin its conference season at home Sept. 19 against the University of California Irvine.
Fuller said the key matches this season will be conference matches while some of the players said they see the in-state rivalries as big.
“I always see [the University of] Utah and BYU as key matches just because they’re our in-state rivals,” Cartwright said.
The Aggies have a goal to return to the NCAA tournament for the third straight year, but will also make other goals as the season progresses, Fuller said.
“I think we need to go through a couple of weekends and figure out what our goals are going to be and make them attainable and realistic,” he said. “I think one of the objectives [to make it to the NCAA tournament] is to finish third or fourth in the conference and that’s always going to be a struggle because our conference is good.”
Kennedy said, “As the season goes on, we’ll continue to make our goals higher and higher as we see where we are.”
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Utah State volleyball Head Coach Burt Fuller and Assistant Coach Cindy Willey give the 2002 spiker squad a pep talk during practice. (Photos by Cory Hill )