WSU Volleyball Team Adopts A Winning Attitude

If Washington State volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick and the Cougars haven’t arrived, then they aren’t too far off.

There is a mentality that exists within Fredrick that has permeated the rest of this year’s team.

It’s the kind of mentality that Stanford’s volleyball team has. Both of them expect to be in their respective positions.

WSU is ranked No. 7 in the country with a record of 5-0 in the Pac-10 and 13-0 overall. Stanford, the defending national champs, are in Pullman to take on the Cougars tonight at Bohler Gym at 7. The Cardinal is 6-0, 10-2 and ranked No. 4.

Tonight’s winner claims sole possession of the top spot in the conference.

With all that at stake, Fredrick has been asked all week whether Friday’s match is the most important in her tenure at WSU? Her answer to everyone has been the same.

“This match is not any more important than the match against California (Saturday at Bohler at 7 p.m.). All of our matches are important.”

The days of “pumping up” the team before “key matches” are gone.

“We know what we can do. We’ve set our goals. It’s just a matter of going out and executing them.”

As for Stanford, its squad is complete after a missing part returned from the Far East.

Cardinal sophomore Kristin Folkl returned for the start of classes two weeks ago with the team already 10 games into its season. She had been touring Waikiki, Taiwan and Beijing with the U.S. National team.

While she was gone, Stanford lost to Texas and Texas A&M in early-season upsets. However, the Cardinal did post an upset of No. 1 ranked Nebraska at Lincoln.

Folkl, Volleyball Magazine’s Freshman of the Year in ‘94, brought back a piece of an international title and even more skills.

In January, Folkl will leave school and move to San Diego, site of the national volleyball training center. Her place on the Cardinal basketball team will be empty this year, and possibly forever.

It’s either Olympic glory in one sport, or national contention in another.

Folkl and WSU’s All-America candidate Sarah Silvernail, both outside hitters, may put on quite a show as they square off on opposite sides of the net.

Zags battling

Gonzaga is off to its worst start in 10 seasons. However, future references should include an asterisk.

The Bulldogs (0-2 West Coast Conference, 2-16 overall) have played nine teams ranked among the 35 best programs in the country, according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

Combine that with six freshman … well, the record hasn’t been pretty.

“We’re not in a panic,” coach Sean Madden said. “I knew we were playing a really tough schedule. The experience we’ve gotten against the teams we’ve played will serve us for the remainder of the schedule. We don’t view ourselves as a bad team.”

And the schedule - what a killer.

“We’re at the mercy of who’s available to play. It makes sense to play Washington State and Idaho for economic reasons. We could go to the South or the Midwest and get some wins against lesser competition, but in the long run, it doesn’t make economical sense or improve the level of ability for the team.”

As for the team’s youth, Madden believes that the lessons the team has learned early will pay dividends down the road.

Madden’s setter, redshirt freshman Nicole Lamoure, is still adjusting to play at the collegiate level.

“She is still learning. She has shown signs of being brilliant, but there are still moments of inconsistency,” he said.

This weekend, the Bulldogs travel to Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s.

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