The Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs will enter the 2008 season having already set a school record before setting foot on any court.
The team’s nine-player freshman class marks the largest the team has ever had. As a result, things are going to look a little different this season regarding the MSU volleyball program.
With the large young group, MSU fifth-year head coach Tina Seals said this was the perfect year to implement some changes she has been wanting to make for a while now.
One thing that is different with the program is the new face that will be seen next to Seals on the sidelines in each match. Last semester, Seals hired a new assistant coach, Lindsay Shondell, a 2007 graduate of Purdue University.
“We have an excellent coaching staff right now,” Seals said. “We’re all on the same page. If I want to make changes, they’re backing me, and that makes things better.”
Shondell has made changes primarily to the team’s defensive scheme, which Seals said the team has bought into well so far. Seals acclaimed Shondell’s knowledge of the game and attributed it to her having grown up with a father and grandfather who each coached volleyball at NCAA schools.
The team’s projected starting lineup is currently in flux, according to second-year assistant coach Don Perkins.
“Nobody’s ready to accept sitting on the bench,” Perkins said. “Last year, we had upperclassmen who were going to play and underclassmen who were going to support them. This year, everybody is looking to play and make a difference.”
With such a large freshman class, each starting position is open for competition, and the upperclassmen know that.
Junior setter Dorey Gray, of Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., is projected to begin the season as a starter for the first time in her career. She said she notices that one of the main differences on the team this season will be the depth available at each position.
“Last year we struggled with injury a lot and struggling to fill the roles the injured girls left open,” Gray said. “This year, though, every position is open, and every position is a battle.”
Gray looks to be the starter at the setter position this season while only two other returning players seem to have their starting positions locked up.
The only two returning starters from a year ago, senior outside hitter Cristina Jucan and sophomore defensive specialist Kayla Woodard are expected to contribute
consistently this season.
Jucan, a native of Cluj, Romania, led the team last season with an average of 3.33 kills per set. She hit at a .171 clip and also contributed 243
digs on the year.
Jucan, the team’s only senior this season, said what is expected of the team this season is different due to the freshman-heavy makeup of the roster.
“Having five seniors [last season], everyone expected us to be on top,” Jucan said. “With nine freshmen, though, people might not necessarily think that. We have to perform the same way, no matter what is expected of us.”
Seals said Woodard, of Addison, Ala., is expected to be the team’s starting libero, taking the place of the departed Megan Lukasek, who started four years at the position.
However, according to Seals, freshman Leanna King, of Huntsville, Ala., is giving Woodard a bit of competition for the position. Seals said King has looked impressive so far in the pre-season, and she is a multiple-position player that will be valuable to the team this season.
Seals said she is impressed all-around with this year’s freshman class.
“This freshman group is one of the hardest-working classes I’ve ever coached,” Seals said. “They have given us their all each and every day in practice.”
Several other freshmen Seals expects to contribute are Faith Steinwedell and Hilary Hunt at the opposite hitter position and Mandy Mellencamp in the middle. Seals also noted that Caitlin Rance was showing a lot of toughness in practice, which could lead to playing time this season.
The other main change going on with the program involves the bleachers instead of the court. Several student fans of the Bulldogs, with the coordination and leadership of new MSU coach Lindsay Shondell, have formed the team support club officially known as the Seals Squad, which will undergo its inaugural official season this year.
The Squad, which charges $10 for membership and a T-shirt, will be present at all of MSU’s home contests to root on the Bulldogs.
“Fans are so important, especially since we are so young,” Seals said. “There’s a great atmosphere here at Newell-Grissom, and the fans and their attendance is so important
to our success.”