Season Preview: Defensive Specialists
August 27, 2011 | Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2011
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» Season Preview: Outside Hitters
SEATTLE - One year ago, Husky fans were faced with the uncertain prospect of a season without All-American Tamari Miyashiro anchoring the back line of the defense. Miyashiro, now playing with Team USA in the FIVB World Grand Prix, left a big court to fill, but all fears were quickly alleviated last year by the steady hands of Jenna Orlandini.
The Californian from La Cañada proved to be one of the Pac-10's best liberos in her redshirt freshman season, and this year she'll look to expand her range of influence on the court as well as in the lockerroom, where Orlandini was recently named a co-captain along with senior Bianca Rowland.
The numbers will only tell part of the story for Orlandini this season. Covering a large portion of the court last year, she finished second in the Pac-10 with 4.82 digs per set. Coach McLaughlin's detailed statistics don't tend to exaggerate, and "her numbers are off the chart," her coach confirms. She's doing things that (former All-American) Candace (Lee) and Tama did their junior and senior years."
So what is the next step for a player of Orlandini's skills?
"I think the most important thing is her taking a hold of this team as a sophomore, and believing that she can influence these girls," says McLaughlin. "The girls love her and they love playing with her, they know what type of person she is. If she makes the choices she's capable of making on and off the court, she can be one of the best liberos, if not the best libero, in the country."
Also poised for a big season on the back line is junior Kelly Holford. Holford improved across the board as a sophomore, becoming one of UW's most reliable servers, and could make similar strides this season. In practice, the Long Beach, California native is more comfortable directing traffic and setting up the offense. While Orlandini is the incumbent, McLaughlin says it is critical that Holford continue to battle every day in practice and maintain a goal of putting on the libero's jersey herself.
"Kelly is a contributor, and she's improved in every part of her game: her serving, her passing, her digging. She's got good composure, she's competitive, she's tough," says McLaughlin. "I am on her every day to make this a challenge for Jo, that she can be a starter if she meets the standards she needs to meet. She'll get an equal opportunity and will get the same numbers as Jo, and I look forward to the battle. It will make her better and make Jo better."
Working more with the defensive specialists this season is redshirt freshman Anna Cesari from Woodway, Washington. Cesari came to the program as a setter, and McLaughlin says that is still where they envision her in the future, but this year she will get more reps with the defense. Her positive energy and work ethic means a great deal to the coaching staff and her teammates, as she is always asking for extra work and challenging herself physically and mentally. "Anna understands her role contributing to this team. It's a tough role, but she's a tough kid and she can handle it."
The new addition to the group is another Californian, Kim Condie from Moraga. Condie's Campolindo high school squad won the state title her senior year, and she has looked ready to dive right in headfirst in early practices.
"We've thrown her into the fire," McLaughlin says. "I think it's been hard for Kim but good for her. Sometimes the hardest things in life benefit you the most. That's what makes it kind of fun and great. The thing that I like most about her is it's business as usual. She comes in with good composure, works hard, and goes drill to drill. There's no drama with her, she's just going to work and I like kids like that."
Of course, passing is a team-wide concern. Everything the Huskies want to do offensively is predicated on the serve-receive and creating options for the setters with accurate passes. Outside hitters Becky Perry and Kindra Carlson handled a large part of that responsibility last season, so the passing ability of this year's young outside hitter group will determine who gets to take the swings at net.
Serving and the serve-receive, says McLaughlin, is one of the most critical aspects of the game and something any great team has to do well, adding "We have that ability. We have some good experience with Jo and Kelly, and then we have this newness. It's just another ongoing development, every day we've got to put a priority on it. Summer (Ross) and Krista (Vansant) can pass. Ky (Munoz) is getting better at passing, Gabbi (Parker) is getting better, Kaleigh (Nelson) is learning how to pass. So we just have to keep improving on it."
