Volleyball Part 2

Today, we are going to look at teams ranked fifth through ninth in the preseason Big South Volleyball Poll that was released last week. Yesterday we looked at the top four; Coastal Carolina, Liberty, Winthrop, and High Point…

When I first saw the poll I was surprised to see UNC Asheville at number five. The Bulldogs tied for the regular season title and were the top seed in last year’s tournament. However a semifinal loss to Coastal and the graduation of five seniors have coaches around the league down on the Dogs this year. But let us not forget who Coach Julie Torbett has remaining. Kelsey Benorden is perhaps the most consistent player in the league. She is an automatic double-double (10 kills and 10 digs) every time she steps on the court. Cindi Miller can play either outside or middle and last season provided the perfect complement to Benorden as the second outside hitter. It will be interesting to see if Coach Torbett moves her back to the middle this season. If she stays on the outside it gives Asheville a terrific outside attack. The Bulldogs must get better in the middle this season. Coach Torbett has gone back to the well (West Henderson High School) and tabbed freshman Meredith Foster (hey she has already replaced Ficker once) as the middle to replace Ficker. Holly Shelton showed some promise last season but needs to get quicker on the block. Jenna Dover and Rachel Guinane are seniors and need to have the best seasons of their careers for the Bulldogs to finish in the top four. I am not as worried about the loss of Raquel Miotto as some of the coaches are. Yes she was the best libero in the history of the Big South and she covered a lot of mistakes but Coach Torbett’s teams always play great defense. They did before Miotto, during Miotto’s time, and will again. Asheville will win its share of games and will battle all season for a top four berth.

As I was researching my notes I was preparing to say that Charleston Southern head coach Danyel Bellush had the best team she has ever had at CSU and this year the Bucs were going to bust into the top four. Then I looked at the top four. The Bucs are the hardest team in the league to predict. They have five returning seniors including Preseason All-Conference member Amanda Hill. Cori Holeman is a great blocker on the right side and adds enough offensive to take the pressure off of Hill. Amberle Trinder had a solid year last season and CSU won its last five regular season matches and then upset Winthrop in the conference tournament. This IS CSU’s best team. This is the year it should break into the top four in the league. I just don’t know who in the top four it is going to replace. The league may be the best it has been in the last 15 years. CSU can have it best team and still finish sixth but I will tell you what. I do not want to be a high-seed facing this team in the conference tournament. The schedule is another thing to watch that will work in CSU’s favor. Most teams have a weekend trip to Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern. Coastal is the marquee match everyone will have to prepare for. Do not fall asleep on the Bucs. Hill is every bit as fun to watch and is every bit as good as Chelsey Kimes. I like this team a lot. They are a bit undersized but they are my sleeper. I expect CSU to pull off more than one surprise result this year. There are going to be a lot of teams that go 0-2 on the Beach trip. CSU just has to steal some wins on the road.

Presbyterian is similar in a lot of ways to Charleston Southern. Expect the Blue Hose to be much more competitive this season than in any previous season. PC returns five starters including Lisa Shelly, Presley Mabrey, and Amanda Kettles. It has good balance on offense, players continue to gain experience in the conference, and the only negative is that the league is so strong this year. PC has played really well at home in recent years but last year went just 3-10 on the road. It has to play better away from home. There are too many tough road trips and I just don’t see this team sneaking up on anyone. Depth is the obvious question mark with PC. The six starters can complete with anyone but the drop off is visible when you get deep in matches. The Blue Hose have to avoid injury to finish in the top of the league. I think this is the best PC team it has had since joining the league unfortunately too many other teams have their best teams as well. PC will finish below .500 but it will complete and will surprise a higher ranked team late in the year.

The top four hitters for Gardner-Webb all return including 2008 Freshman of the Year Laura Wilcox. Molly Rhyne had a solid year as well but the defense ranked seventh in digs per set a year ago. GWU went 4-12 in league play but one of its wins was a 3-1 victory over Coastal Carolina at the end of the year. Head Coach Chris Phillips knows the Big South as well as anyone and knows how to have success in the league. Unfortunately for the Runnin’ Bulldogs I just haven’t seen enough defensively to compete this year. Too many teams have too balanced of line ups. GWU only hit .190 last season. I realize it was a mostly freshman and sophomore team but now it’s a sophomore and junior led team. Like many others GWU will have a new setter. I think it will be another tough year for the Bulldogs but they are growing. Next year they will have the experience to make a move in the league. It is hard to say wait until next year before this year starts but in Boiling Springs the growing pains will last one more year.

Radford rounds out our list. The Highlanders struggled against everyone but High Point going 2-14 in league play with both wins coming against the Panthers. Lauren Clary was easily their best player and now she is gone. The Highlanders will have to find some offense. Radford hit just .157 as a team a year ago. Setter Desiree Aramburu often took the offense into her own hands and led the team with a .258 attack percentage as a setter. Laura Waddell, Carly Fleming, and Megan McWhorter have had flashes but they will each need to step up this season if Radford is to get out of the cellar. As with Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian, the league is just too strong this year to be fighting up hill. I think Radford will win more than two conference matches but it will be battling with GWU for eighth place all season long. I just don’t think the Highlanders have enough offensive weapons to compete night in and night out. I do like Aramburu as a setter and I think Radford will continue to improve under head coach Marci Jenkins. Radford has some freshman talent coming in but it will take time to develop.