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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Even the powerful team of
2004 that finished 43-1 and finished fifth in the nation didn’t have what
the 2009 Hutchinson Community College volleyball team potentially could
have.
As head coach Ronda Shirley
looks over her roster for the upcoming season, she sees a myriad of
possibilities in terms of potential lineups. She sees several players who
can play multiple positions and play them well. She sees the ability to be
able to make moves not based out of necessity, but based on depth and having
versatility.
“We have depth with kids who
can play multiple positions and play them well,” said Shirley, whose team
opens the 2009 season this weekend at the Iowa Western Reiver Invitational.
“I can think of five kids who can play different positions and play them
equally well, so if somebody was really struggling, we can adjust. It’s
going to help us. I think we can do some things to keep teams off balance.”
Hutchinson (30-16 in 2008)
is the defending Jayhawk West and Region VI champion that finished 10th in
the nation last season. The Lady Dragons open the 2009 season ranked No. 13
in the preseason NJCAA Division I volleyball poll.
One full-time starter, two
part-time starters and six players overall return from HCC’s 2008 regional
championship team. Shirley and the HCC coaching staff are in the process of
blending those six players with a talented group of freshmen that the
12th-year Lady Dragon coach is very high on.
OUTSIDE HITTERS
Sophomores Bailea Phelan and
Karol Marins are returning players on the left side and Polk State College
transfer Carol Logato adds to the depth at that position.
Phelan (5-foot-8, Holyrood,
Kan.) came on during the final third of the season and started throughout
the postseason. Phelan averaged 1.82 kills and hit .127. Those numbers
improved to 2.00 kills per game and a .151 hitting percentage over the final
11 matches.
“Bailea turned it on at the
end of the season last year,” Shirley said. “She struggled with the
transition from small high school to college, but she made the transition at
the right time. In the spring, I saw that spark back that I saw when we
watched her in high school. She’s a quiet leader, but she always works hard
and the freshman picked that up.”
Marins (6-2, Arraila do Cabo,
Brazil) returns after a freshman season where she showed dominant moments.
Shirley said Marins has put in a lot of off-season time to continue her
transition from the Brazilian beach to the six-player court. Marins averaged
1.93 kills and hit .193 in 2008.
“Karol has come a long way
since she got here,” Shirley said. “She brings the power and spring was a
big time for her (to improve). The transition from beach to court was more
than I thought it would be.
"She’s more comfortable with
more shots. My hope is by the end of the year, she can play all the way
around. She can generate a lot of points. She’s so much more consistent than
she was last year.”
Logato (5-8, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil) has the versatility to play several different positions. Including
hitting from the left side, Logato is one of the best defensive players and
passers on the 2009 HCC roster. And in a pinch, she can step as a setter.
Shirley said she is not
adverse to putting the libero shirt on Logato or even have her set.
Last season at Polk State,
Logato had an attack percentage of .535 and averaged 3.03 kills per set.
Logato also averaged 0.53 ace serves per set.
“Carol is a great defensive
player and passer,” Shirley said. “She knows how to manipulate the defense.
She sees open areas and she brings a spark to us this year.”
MIDDLES
The Lady Dragons will have a
pair of freshmen starting at middle blocker. Those freshman, however, are
all-state caliber middles who come from two powerful prep programs.
Kansas Class 1A volleyball
player of the year Beth Cornwell (6-1, St. John, Kan.) and Kate Morrell
(6-0, Ogallala, Neb.) have the type of upside potential to drum up memories
of the most dominating middle duo in HCC history with All-Americans Ludimila
Amaral and Brandi Hood in 2006.
“It’s going to be a learning
process for them, but I feel confident in what they can do,” Shirley said.
“They have the make-up to be like Lugi and Brandi. Both are extremely hard
workers on the court. They work fundamentals and that the block is the
biggest part of their game in what we ask them to do. They both read well
and are aggressive.
“Their potential for growth
is really high. That’s what is exciting.”
Sophomore Debbie Ohl, who
was a first-team All-Jayhawk Conference and first-team All-Region VI middle
blocker as a freshman, and sophomore Shelley Kemper will add to the depth in
the middle.
RIGHT-SIDE HITTERS
With the addition of
Cornwell and Morrell in the middle, Shirley has the luxury of moving Ohl
(5-11, Hutchinson, Kan.) and Kemper (6-0, Logan, Kan.) out to right-side
hitter.
Ohl was one of HCC’s top
offensive threats in 2008 and was the team’s leading blocker. She had 175
total blocks and averaged 2.02 kills and hit .242 in her freshman season.
Kemper saw limited playing
time as a freshman, but with a strong spring and fall camp, figures to be in
the rotation on the right side.
“We have right sides that
have both ends of it, both hit and block,” Shirley said. “I have total
packages at every position. I have people who are more well-rounded and
versatile.”
Shirley said that in a
pinch, both Morrell and Cornwell could jump over to the right side and
produce.”
LIBERO/DEFENSIVE
SPECIALIST
In terms of returning
collegiate playing experience, the Lady Dragon back row took the biggest hit
from graduation. The lone returnee is sophomore Mara Huck (5-2, Dodge City),
who averaged 1.83 digs per set in 2008.
Shirley said Huck benefited
from the fact that most of the 2008 sophomores moved on at semester and Huck
saw plenty of court time in spring workouts.
“Mara got a lot of
experience in the spring, which helped her a lot,” Shirley said. “She’s
trying to fill some big shoes with the kids you left. She has the ability to
do, but she has to have the confidence in her own mind.”
Freshman Haley LeBlanc (5-5,
McPherson, Kan.) was a three-year starter in high school at libero who is
vocal and competitive and according to Shirley “doesn’t get frazzled on the
floor.” Shirley said to not be surprised of Logato works as strictly a
libero.
SETTER
There are four setters on
the 2009 roster and they have big shoes to fill with the departed Melissa
Gmur now at Missouri State University.
Sophomore Shayley Jacobson
(5-10, Olympia, Wash.) is the lone returning setter from 2008. She averaged
4.03 assists per set, playing in both a 6-2 and 5-1 offensive set.
Lindsay Dusin (5-9,
Phillipsburg, Kan.) and Emme Russell (5-7, Hutchinson, Kan.) have made
pushes in preseason camp to take the reigns. Freshman Whitney Miller (5-8,
Hutchinson, Kan.) is very athletic, but is now getting some quality
instruction in the art of setting.
“I’m not so uptight about
setting because I know it’s a learning process for them,” Shirley said of
the freshmen setters. “It’s a different level, faster pace and it’s a more
complex offense than they have ever been asked to run. We can’t be
predictable and they can’t get into a rut.”
Dusin was a two-year all-stater
in high school who owns many career volleyball records at Phillipsburg. She
is also an option of taking swings from the right side, Shirley said.
Russell was a four-year
starter and a two-time all-stater at Hutchinson Trinity
“It’s still up the air who
it will be early in the season,” said Shirley in terms of a line-up. “We
will get it figured out. It’s great to have so much to work with, but I
don’t want to move everybody around too much so people don’t get a feel for
the game.”
SCHEDULE
Once again, the Lady Dragons
will play a very difficult schedule.
On opening weekend, HCC
opens with three top-six nationally ranked teams among Division I and
Division I at the Iowa Western Reiver Invitational.
Hutchinson is slated to play
at least eight preseason-ranked teams in 2009. That should be good
preparation for what looks to be the most competitive league race in years.
In addition to HCC, Pratt is
ranked No. 18 to start the season. Those two teams open the conference
season on Sept. 1 at Pratt. HCC and Pratt met in the 2008 Region VI
championship match. Seward County has some transfers and a good sophomore
nucleus back.
“The level of competition is
way up than in the past,” Shirley said of the league race. “We are taking
nobody for granted. We have a lot of work cut out for us. It’s not going to
be easy. Hopefully the tournaments that we go do will prepare us.”
Hutchinson will open at home
on Sept. 9 against Colby. |
