Time will tell for Wooster spikers

  • brian questel
  • August 22, 2012
  • 323
                        
082712 WHSvolleyball Promo: Generals young, but talent is there for a strong campaign Time will tell for Wooster spikers By Brian Questel After finishing a match under .500 a year ago, the Wooster High volleyball team is looking to get back into the thick of the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Now, whether it will or not is one thing. In the ultra competitive OCC, which routinely puts a team in the Final Four as it did last season with Mansfield Madison, Wooster coach Jen Snowbarger will put a decidedly young team on the court this fall. Taking a green team into the OCC isn’t the kind of surprise most coaches want to do, which is why the Generals’ non-conference slate is equally difficult as Snowbarger looks to get the Generals back into an extended postseason run. The Generals will open the season Saturday, Aug. 25, against Canton McKinley, a team that Wooster had the opportunity to play this summer. “We actually scrimmaged them this year and they are very athletic,” said Snowbarger. “They definitely had junior/senior leadership and they are going to be a good test. We match up well, but one of the things about being young is you don’t know how you will be out of the gate. Sometimes they respond well and sometimes they are nervous. That’s why you start with a non-league match first. “I think it’s a great match and it’s competitive. They are not going to walk over us and we’re not going to walk over them.” This will be a different Wooster team from a year ago when it had five seniors, as Snowbarger noted. “Last year I had two freshmen play all-around for me,” said Snowbarger. “They are coming back as sophomores, and that’s a big growing year. There is also a huge improvement going from your sophomore year to junior and I have Syd Logee, Dreya Holmes and Paige Dickerhoof becoming juniors. They are leading the way. “Our setter graduated, so we have Shawna Russell, a sophomore, and Kelli Sharpe, a junior, and another sophomore, Hannah Harris, who is doing well.” In addition to the learning curve supplied by its youth, Snowbarger is looking to run a different formation. “For our rotation this year we’re looking to run a three-middle approach,” said Snowbarger. “Usually you stay opposite each other, but I have Hannah, Makayla Hart and Dreya all playing in the middle. … We have Syd Logee on one outside and she’s shown huge improvement in the preseason. In last week or so, the light bulb has clicked and hopefully there is no looking back. “(The formation) could change. The point is a few in the rotation can play multiple positions, which creates more options and opens up some of their strengths.” After being senior-laden last year, the Generals’ lone senior is Mariah Whitman, who will play some right side hitter, but the final player on the varsity roster is sophomore outside hitter Megan Fiscus. While the season has yet to begin, Snowbarger is looking forward to the season. “They have so much potential, but we are amazingly young,” said Snowbarger. “Last year we were young, but we only had two freshmen and enough seniors not to feel overwhelmingly young. This year we have one senior and as many sophomores as juniors – you just don’t know how they will respond right out of the gate. Are we going have nerves? We are unproven as team. We have a ton of potential, but what we do is up in the air. “These girls definitely, definitely have tons of potential. Like any athlete, it’s getting them to work hard. I told them today without effort, we’re just a good high-school team and we can compete a little. Add effort and busting your butt for every point and we could be real good. We need to make that a habit instead of just when we need it.” The other thing that the Generals will have to manage is “the hard transition to the school year.” “The whole month of August our focus has been on volleyball,” she added. “Now they have eight hours of school and volleyball is not their focus. They have to get into a routine, they are tired getting up earlier and they need to focus. “My girls have done a great job. They are excited to be there, they are taking criticism well and doing all a coach can ask. I’m excited for the season to start. When the whistle blows, that will show what we can really do. Our league is tough – we just have so many great athletes in our league now and they aren’t going away anytime soon. “When you see how young we are, they are a few years away. They are sophomores and doing well. By the time they are seniors, it’s hard to predict, but they could be really good.”


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