If you’ve checked into SFA Volleyball at all this summer
you know there are a ton of fresh faces on the roster. Suddenly, this club is very young and while it’s
tempting to dream about what that means for 2018 or 2019, the current season is
now upon us. With two scrimmages and two
weeks of practice in the books and only a few more days until a Wisconsin plane
trip to kick things off, let’s go around the court and see how these newcomers
could fit in.
With the ‘Jacks plans of running a 6-2 offense, a quick
inventory of spots tells you there is one outside hitter (on the left) and one
middle blocker spot open. For the six
hitters, we can pencil in Haley Coleman occupying one left side spot, Abby
McIntyre and Makenzee Hanna sharing the right and Justice Walker anchoring the
middle. That leaves the spots opposite
of Coleman and Walker up for grabs.
The early options for the other left side spot lead us to
three fresh faces: Sophomore transfer
Peyton Redmond, coming over from East Tennessee State and freshmen KK Payne and
Corin Evans. What’s been interesting to
me is that in the limited time I’ve seen each practice and play that they have
each shined in mutually exclusive times.
Checking in on practices, Evans made the fastest
impression on me of the bunch. Feisty
and confident in drills it was clear that Evans felt comfortable on the
court. One of the things I like about
Corin is that she’s aggressive while on the back row. She doesn’t shy away from passing in the
least. At times, young outsides look a
little reserved playing alongside the libero, but Evans doesn’t play with a
wink of shyness. I like the slight
swagger and she seems to fit what I’ve personally talked to the coaching staff
at length about concerning our needs for left-side hitters. I thought she played better in scrimmage #1
than #2 when she scooped 29 digs in five sets.
I wouldn’t hesitate throwing her in there at all and I’m anxious to see
how much playing time she can accrue during the tournament part of the
schedule.
Redmond is the one of the bunch that has vaulted the most
in impressions for me through the five or six times I’ve checked in. The first few times I saw practice, I could
tell she was a contributor, but during the two scrimmages my impression of her
really shot up. I like the calm
disposition on the court. Because she
dominated the first scrimmage – and especially the deciding last set – I decided
to exclusively study her positioning and demeanor during an entire six
rotations last Saturday during the second scrimmage. At no point did she appear rattled, discouraged,
or unsure. I think her experience at
ETSU will pay immediate dividends. Of the
three, I think she’s the “safest” choice to put out there to avoid the roller
coaster up and downs.
Payne can hit surprisingly hard for carrying such a light
frame. Like a lot of big scorers I’ve
seen in the conference through the years, the first thing you notice in her
approach to attack is the big back arch.
When she gets the hitting elbow up this really allows for her to whip at
the ball with quite a force. It will
catch you off guard the first few times you see her hit. Another positive to KK’s game is that she is comfortable
letting it fly from the back row. She’ll
have to learn to add a little more finesse to counter all the big blockers, but
of the bunch, she appears to be the most natural pure left side scorer. I’d especially use her if the right sides
aren’t finding the floor as much as normal, because I think KK can score at
this level right off the bat. Defense
and passing could be issues at times, but she passed well in the second
scrimmage so that was a good sign. Of
the three, she’s the one I became aware of first and have heard the most about
over the past six months or so.
What’s great about all the tournament games is that all
three of these girls should see plenty of playing time. Frankly, they all three NEED to be out there
a lot early on. It wouldn’t surprise me
to see a different one of them start different matches on the days we have to
play twice. Debbie is quick to make in
game adjustments due to performance anyway, so we could easily see different
girls start different sets at multiple times early on.
Honestly, I think these three have the potential to make
decisions very tough on the coaching staff. Of course, it’s a good problem to have when
you need 6 hitters and 8 or 9 of them and playing at a level worthy of court
time. They are all young, and I’m
naturally very, very cautious about first year players, but in a purposefully
restrained way this may be the most optimistic I’ve been about a recruiting
class of left-sides in quite a while. Since
some people have asked, I’ll state that if I had to play a conference match
RIGHT NOW, I’d slide the experienced Redmond ahead of the freshmen. But since we have four weekends of
tournaments ahead, I would definitely play all three a ton for a month and
reevaluate in late September as to whether one deserves to be labelled the “starter”.
Running a 6-2 means you have to manage substitutions
since the right sides and setters eat up four subs per time all the way
around. So, if this spot isn’t going to
be DS’d for, then it may come down to serve receive and floor defense. It’s still early… too early, but if the other
five hitters are generating enough offense, I’d be tempted to use Redmond or
Evans. Otherwise, if trying to getting a
scoring jumpstart, use Payne. I say that
with little to no initial reservation about Peyton or Corin on offense nor
Payne on defense. After all, Redmond and
Evans but up big offensive numbers in scrimmage #1 and we’ve already discussed
Payne’s passing in scrimmage #2.
Now, there are still FIVE other newcomers to discuss! Wow!
At the open middle spot, we know a freshman will be on the floor all
season. Danae Daron, the sister of
former SFA middle Ari, is obviously very athletic. Go read her bio on the SFA roster page. Excelling in track and volleyball, Danae
looks like someone who has loads of potential.
SFA does such a good job integrating and training middle blockers that
it is relatively easy to imagine that a year of playing with Walker could do
Daron wonders. The second middle just
needs to be steady. Enough offense
should come from Walker and the pin hitters to where if the second middle can
just hit .200-.250 a with a half dozen kills and block a few balls per match,
then we’ll be good.
Shayla Eagleton is the other new middle on the squad for
2016 and she’s shown enough in practice and scrimmages to deserve a look early
on as well. I like Eagleton’s swing a
lot. She flashed plus potential on
offense at times during the scrimmages and looks like someone that has enough
natural talent to work with that she should be expected to improve as years
pass. At times, her location awareness on
the floor in rally has been off, but that’s to be expected. She’ll need to contribute since SFA only has
three middles on the roster. Because of
that, expect to see her on the court a lot early on, because even if Daron wins
the second middle spot, Shayla knows she’s the go to in case of any little thing
that could happen to the other two. Then
again, this is spot where a starter may not emerge until late September, if
then.
Middle is the only spot on the floor where I wish we had
just one more girl. Not because the
three we have can’t do the job – I certainly think they can – but in the case
of injury, you then have no additional flexibility. Others could slide over, but these are the
only three we are training as regular middles in pre-season.
Xariah Williams, a freshman from Mansfield Summit, will
always be the answer to a personal trivia question of mine: Who’s’ the SFA player my mom knew about
before me? Yes, my mom of all people
clued me in to her. My mom is not
exactly a volleyball aficionado, but when Williams won the Fort Worth Star
Telegram Volleyball Player of the Year Award last year, my mom gave me a call. Xariah’s picture was in the paper – and my
mom doesn’t miss it if it’s in the paper – and a few days later the article
shows up in my mailbox complete with comments about coming to SFA. Xariah had a really nice second scrimmage
playing for the challenge team on the right side and provides excellent
insurance for McIntyre and Hanna. I’d
predict she’d get just enough playing time to prove valuable for when it’s time
for her to scoot into a starting role later in her career. I think she fits on this club great and on
the occasion that Abby or Mak isn’t feeling it, I’ll bet we see a few outbursts
from Williams during the season. She’s a
great get for this recruiting class. She
might help us a lot this year, who knows?
But, I’d expect several seasons in purple where she is one of the go-to’s.
Pedigree and smarts are two words that describe freshman
setter Ann Hollas. Coming from a family
of athletes, she clearly has the mindset of an NCAA Division I athlete. From nearby Longview, you heard coach
Humphreys describe in my first interview last week that Ann is training as a
setter exclusively for the first time in her life. Many veterans have already remarked to me
about how smart Ann plays. Her high
school resume takes up more ink that most four-year college players get on the
roster page. Decorated with a long list
of honors, it won’t be long until Hollas makes her mark at SFA. Of course, with Shannon Connell in her final
year, Hollas could find herself in the mix sooner rather than later during her
four years with us. To be honest, with
all the attention to the two “open” spots for newcomers, Hollas could be the
dark horse of the entire recruiting class.
An obvious opening doesn’t exist for her right now, but by the time we
get to 2019, she may very well have made as big an impact as any gal on this
list.
We only leave freshman Julia Whitehead for last comments,
because back row players don’t mind being at the back. Anyone reading in this space knows that I
looooooooveeeee back row defense. Here
is one thing that is great about Whitehead being here: she played on a team that went to the Texas
6A high school FINALS. If you win defensive
MVP in a 6A district that puts a club in the finals, then you know the girl can
scoop. Every team needs the 5’2”
defender buzzing all around destroying the egos of the flashy hitters by
digging everything to target. Clearly,
Lexus Cain has the libero spot held down and if we need to use a defensive
specialist for one of hitters, then the much improved Sam Rodriguez is ahead of
Whitehead on the depth chart. Still,
just like when Cain came in from Amarillo, it’s great to know that we have a DS
on the bench that has played under the bright lights with a big school
background.
Predicted Opening Day Lineup:
Left Sides: Coleman and Freshman*
Right Sides:
McIntyre and Hanna
Middles: Walker
and Daron
Setters: Connell
and Brewer
Libero: Cain
If DS used at times:
Rodriguez
*I’m gonna guess Payne gets the nod in the first match
Friday just because of a vibe I get from the staff. I think I’d start Evans if it were me. But, let me be clear.. all of Payne, Redmond
and Evans should see a lot of opportunities over the first month. They need to see what these girls can do in
real matches. The same is true of
Eagleton & Williams.
Later in my next post:
Should SFA have been picked first or second in the Southland? I’ll break down each side of that coin later
in the week!