Friday, August 24, 2007
The preseason is over. Finally.
Following 16 days of practice, the Kansas volleyball team begins its season at 6:30 tonight against Cal State Bakersfield. Count junior middle blocker Natalie Uhart among those pleased with the end of preseason practice. “We’ve been practicing a lot,” she said. “We’re finalizing our lineup, and now we just need to get rid of our first game jitters.”
The opener is the first of three games that are part of the Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore. Kansas will play Idaho State at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and home team, Oregon, at 9 p.m.
The team is ready to get started, but coach Ray Bechard said on Tuesday that he was a little more hesitant.
“Players probably always think they are ready to go before the coaching staff,” Bechard said. “I think everybody across the country would like to have another week to prepare, but I think we’re all in the same boat. I think there will be a certain anxiety level going out for the first time when it really counts, but I think our team will be ready to do that.”
Kansas is coming off a 10-19 season, and its first season without an NCAA tournament berth since 2002. But Kansas finished 7-2 last season during the nonconference portion of its schedule, including a win against No. 16 BYU. Natalie Uhart said that the win against BYU helped the team tremendously, and that getting out to a strong start in the nonconference is important again this year.
Uhart is playing her first competitive college volleyball game since 2005, when she was at her former school, Long Beach State. Uhart said she had experience playing against Oregon from her time there. Uhart said that playing against three unfamiliar teams could prove beneficial to the team. Uhart returns from a knee injury and will most likely join returning starters senior Emily Brown, junior Savannah Noyes, sophomore Brittany Williams and sophomore Katie Martincich in the starting lineup.
Brown, a Baldwin City native, is the top returning offensive player for Kansas. Brown had 336 kills in 28 matches last season. Noyes and Williams bring depth to the front line, and Martincich will run the offense from the setter position. Martincich averaged more than 11 assists a game last season.
A host of other players will vie for the remaining spots, including freshmen Melissa Manda, Karina Garlington and Jenna Kaiser. Manda has the added advantage of playing libero, a position without much competition. A libero is a player who specializes in defense.
Bechard said that defining roles for everybody on the team was one of the goals of the tournament. “We have a lot of positions still up for competition, but our goal is to go out and compete favorably and have an opportunity to win the tournament,” he said.
After the Oregon Invitational, Kansas will stay on the road next weekend and head to East Lansing, Mich., for the Spartan Invitational. Kansas finished its nonconference portion of the schedule on Sept. 7 with the start of the Jayhawk Invitational. By that time Kansas may be ready for a break, but right now, the team is ready to hit the court.
“We’re twenty practices in, or about there, and you get to that point where kids are still enthused and excited, but they’re ready for a new challenge,” Bechard said.
— Edited by Amelia Freidline
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