Vandals loaded with experience, not so for other area schools

New faces and unfamiliar names abound this fall on the rosters of three of the area’s four NCAA Division I volleyball teams.

But at the University of Idaho, where coach Debbie Buchanan is methodically putting together one of the premier programs in the Big West Conference, the Vandals’ training camp has seemed like Old Home Week.

Three seniors, including all-Big West middle blocker Sara Meek, and three juniors who also shared considerable minutes last season, are back from a team that finished 19-11 last season and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

The NCAA berth was the school’s first since 1995, and there was a certain amount of disappointment involved after UI bowed to national power Hawaii in the opening round. But Buchanan is convinced this year’s team is well-equipped to take the next step in its evolution, despite the graduation loss off All-American Anna Hammond, who averaged 4.58 kills and 1.31 blocks per game last season, while hitting a robust .324.

“I think making the tournament again is a realistic goal” said Buchanan, who is in her fifth season at Idaho. “We lose Anna, who was an All-American, but I think Sarah is going to be an All-American this year.

“This is definitely the best team that we’ve had. We’re going to be better, we’re playing at a higher level and we’re making fewer errors.”

Unfortunately for area volleyball fans, Buchanan is the only local D-I coach talking that way.

At Washington State, first-year head coach Brian Heffernan is dealing with all sorts of uncertainty – including the loss of seven players who left the team last winter while the Cougars were struggling to a 9-20 record under Cindy Fredrick. Fredrick left at the end of the season to take the head coaching job at the University of Iowa.

Senior libero Alison Billingsley is back, along with sophomores Jennifer Todd, Jen Barcus and Kelly Rosin. But there is little else in the way of proven experience, and Heffernan, who came to WSU after four-years as an assistant at Minnesota, expects to give highly touted freshmen Nicole Martin, a setter, and Kristin Kelley, an outside hitter, a chance to contribute early on.

“Any time you have a young and inexperienced team and you are relying on an even younger and more inexperienced player at a critical position, there are going to be challenges,” Heffernan admitted. “At the same time, I want to create the situation for both Nicole and Kristin where the weight of the world is not on their shoulders to carry this program.”

At Eastern Washington University, fifth-year coach Wade Benson faces much the same situation as he prepares to retool an Eagles team that finished 22-8 overall and won the regular-season Big Sky title with a 13-1 record.

Gone are four-year letterwinners Jessie Wright, Courtney Bush and Emily Hall, leaving senior outside hitters Keva Sonderen and Megan Kitterman and junior outside hitter Lizzy Mellor to provide the leadership for this year’s young team.

“We should be down this year, considering we lost five seniors from last season,” Benson said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean we will be.”

Benson’s optimism is based on a pair of Canadian transfers, Deanna and Christina Albers, who played for the University of Saskatchewan last winter. Junior Ashley Jensen, a transfer from Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif., could also have an immediate impact.

“With the influx of transfers vying for starting positions this season, our success is really dependent on how well and how quickly the new players acclimate,” Benson said.

Gonzaga coach Kip Yoshimura is also dealing with a young, relatively untested team that graduated seven letterwinners from last year’s 4-26 team.

The Bulldogs return four starters, including senior setter Emilee Gihring and senior outside hitter Christina Davis, who enters the season ranked No. 11 on GU’s career kills list with 950. But Yoshimura’s rosters still includes six freshmen and a sophomore, which will make it difficult to better last year’s record in the West Coast Conference.