WSU, Zags kick off at Jackrabbit

All four area Division I volleyball teams open their 2006 seasons today, with Washington State and Gonzaga scheduled to meet this morning at 8 in the opening match of South Dakota State’s Jackrabbit Kickoff Tournament in Brookings, S.D.

The Cougars and Bulldogs, who are coming off disappointing 2005 seasons in which they lost more than 20 games and finished next to last in their respective conferences, are hoping for some early-season success on which they can build.

“We are in a position now that is further along than the last two years, not just from a volleyball standpoint, but from a chemistry standpoint,” third-year WSU coach Brian Heffernan said. “We’re proud of the progress we have made, and this team is on a mission to overcome the challenges ahead.”

There should be plenty of those for the Cougars, who face a grueling Pacific-10 Conference schedule that features six teams – Washington (third), Stanford (fourth), UCLA (10th), Southern California (14th), California (17th) and Arizona (18th) – that are ranked in the CSTV/American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Preseason Poll.

Gonzaga, too, will be challenged by a West Coast Conference schedule that includes three ranked teams – Santa Clara (sixth), Pepperdine (19th) and San Diego (20th) – along with three others receiving votes.

Eastern Washington University, which opens its season at 7:30 this morning against Syracuse in the Wichita State (Kan.) Tournament, Kan., will do so with a young, untested team that is expected to finish somewhere near the middle of a Big Sky Conference race that figures to be dominated by perennial power Sacramento State.

Idaho, which kicks off its season with a 10 a.m. showdown against Arkansas in the University of Oklahoma Tournament in Norman, Okla., will chase Western Athletic Conference power and seventh-ranked Hawaii in its attempt to improve on an 8-8 finish in its WAC debut last year.

Following is a brief look at all of the area’s college volleyball teams:

Washington State

The Cougars return four starters and three other letterwinners from last year’s 9-22 team that finished 2-16 in the Pac-10 Conference. The best of the bunch are co-captain and senior outside hitter Kelly Rosin, who averaged 2.24 kills and .73 blocks per game as a junior, and sophomore OH Brittany Johnson (2.04 kpg, .90 bpg).

Heffernan has some concerns at middle blocker, where he must fill a couple of big holes left by the graduation departures of Jen Barcus and Natalia Owens. The top candidates expected to step in are 6-3 freshman Cassie Robbins and junior transfer Tara West.

“I feel really good about what we can do in the middle blocker position from a defensive standpoint,” Heffernan said. “All the candidates are going to be very good for us blocking. I look forward to helping them improve their offensive skills.”

The setting duties will be handled by junior Maureen Perez and freshman Corina Beyer, with sophomore letterwinner Jalen Pendon listed as the top returning libero.

Gonzaga

Fifth-year coach Kip Yoshimura welcomes back a young but experienced team that boasts four returning junior starters and the realistic expectation of improving over last year, when the Bulldogs finished 10-21 overall and 2-10 in the West Coast Conference.

Topping the list of junior returnees is OH Becky Jones, who averaged a team-high 4.10 kills last season, while finishing second on the team in digs with 336. She will be joined up front by fellow junior MB Briawna Mueller (2.13 kpg, 1.14 bpg) as the Zags attempt to compensate for the graduation loss of OH Lacey Bell and her 2.34 kills per game.

The Bulldogs will have additional challenges up front, where sophomore OH Michelle Boevers was expected to play a key role before suffering a season-ending knee injury over the summer.

Last year’s starting setter Heather Dunn (10.29 apg) is also back, along with libero Alecia Douglas.

Eastern Washington

Wade Benson faces a major rebuilding task as he begins his seventh year as the Eagles head coach.

Only two starters return from last year’s team that finished 23-9 overall and 10-4 in the Big Sky Conference. One of those – OH Addie Webster, who averaged 2.57 kills and 3.19 digs per game – is only a sophomore, leaving fellow returnee and senior OH Brittney Page (1.93 kpg) as the only player on the Eagles roster with more than one year of experience.

“We lost a lot, and this team has a large question mark on it,” said Benson, who has won three regular-season Big Sky titles and one conference tournament title since taking over at Eastern. “We are building back our depth by bringing in a lot of kids this year, and we are bringing in a lot next year. I think the future is bright, and we will be back.”

In order to get there this year, however, the Eagles will need immediate contributions from several key newcomers and improved play from a quartet of returning letterwinners that includes sophomore MB Kerri Beck and three seniors – OH Chrystal Johnson, S Ashley Gandauli and S Julia Reis – who are all second-year transfers.

Idaho

After finishing 16-14 overall and 8-8 in their Western Athletic Conference debut last fall, the Vandals open the 2006 season with lofty expectations.

Seventh-year coach Debbie Buchanan has nine returning letterwinners – including five starters – on her roster. Included on the list or returning players are OH Haley Larsen and MB Sarah Loney, a pair of sophomores who were both named to the WAC’s all-freshman team last year.

Larsen, who was also a second-team all-conference selection, led the Vandals with an average of 3.77 kills per game, while Loney averaged 1.54 kills and a team-best 1.17 blocks.

Other returning starters include senior MB Erin Curtis (2.61 kpg, .93 bpg), senior OH Amanda Bowman (2.60 kpg, 1.45 dpg) and senior S Saxony Brown (11.9 apg, 2.07 apg).

Also returning is senior defensive specialist Stacy Sode, who led the team with and average of 3.33 digs per game last fall.

Whitworth

The Pirates will be young and inexperienced after losing all six starters and their top libero from 2005, when they finished 22-4 overall after losing to La Verne in the West Regional Final of the NCAA Division III tournament.

The top returning player from last year’s team, which won the Northwest Conference regular-season title with a 15-1 record, is senior OH/MB Angie Florence, who played in only 36 games for eighth-year coach Steve Rupe last fall.

CC Spokane

Several freshmen played big roles for second-year coach Jenni Rosselli last year as the Sasquatch finished 26-22 overall and 8-4 in the East Region of the NWAACC.

Among them were OH Cassie Duncan and MH Emily Wittkopf, who are all expected back this season, along with defensive specialist Heidi Yohe, who led the team with an average of 3.75 digs per game.

North Idaho

The Cardinal finished 30-5 overall and 9-1 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference last fall, losing to SWAC co-champion College of Southern Idaho in the district tournament finals.

Coach Bret Taylor, in his second tour of duty at NIC, welcomes back six sophomores from last year’s team, including starting outside hitters Kayla Mainer and Konae Purcell and middle blocker Daidre Mendenhall.