The Washington University volleyball team will begin their season this weekend with a five-team round robin tournament at the Wash. U. Field House. The teams they’ll face—Knox College, Depauw University, Adrian College, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Edgewood College—combined for an 82-67 record last season. It’s a slow start to the year for a Bears’ team that spent much of 2015 ranked No. 1 in the country. But what the Bears will lose in competition, they’ll gain in repetition. With three members of last year’s front court graduated, the Red and Green will be testing out new rotations featuring younger players that are either freshmen or were blocked at their position in past seasons. This is in contrast to the past two seasons when the starting cast was mostly intact. With so much inexperience on the court, head coach Vanessa Walby is expecting some friction.
Allison Hamburg | Student LifeRexi Sheredy strikes the ball in a Oct. 29, 2015 Senior Night game against Webster University.
“Everything is going to be a little bit rough this weekend because it’s our real first showing,” Walby said.
The Bears better adjust fast. After this weekend, their schedule picks up considerably. Starting with a Sept. 7 game against No. 19 Illinois Wesleyan University, Wash. U. will enter a stretch where they will face six teams in the top 20 in 10 days. This includes matches against No. 7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, No. 3 Juniata College and No. 1 California Lutheran College, the team that knocked the Bears out of the NCAA Regional Final last year in three sets.
With time to experiment running out, Walby estimates that four of the six starting positions are still open. One of them is setter, the position once occupied by the now graduated Allison Zastrow. As the team’s setter last season, Zastrow ranked second in Division III in assists per set and personally orchestrated an up-tempo offense that carried the Bears to the regional finals. For her efforts, she was awarded the American Volleyball Coaches to the regional finals. For her efforts, she was awarded the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year. To replace Zastrow, the Bears have either sophomore Savannah Zhang or freshman Chloe Stile.
According to Walby, neither setter has claimed the job through preseason practice or informal exhibition games. The wrinkle, in her book, is that the two players have complementary skillsets—where Zhang excels, Stile could improve and vice versa.
“They both have very good positives to them and then stuff that we need to work on,” Walby said.
While Zhang only has three games and 16 assists under her belt, her seniority still offered some advantages.
“I think [Zhang] is a little bit more comfortable because she’s gotten just more experience having me for a year and knowing my style and knowing my pace,” Walby said. “She was also here all summer with our strength and conditioning coach, and she’s been able to just train to my liking a little bit more. [Stile] is still learning some of it and is kind of adjusting to the college game.”
Of course, the notion of one player claiming the job assumes that the Bears will run a one-setter offense like they did last season with Zastrow. According to Walby, there is every possibility that she might use Zhang and Stile in a two-setter rotation. This formation would give Walby a couple of more offensive options, as well as take the pressure off a setter with a more limited skill set than that of Zastrow.
“If I run a two-setter offense, it’s also because I want to get different attackers on the floor,” Walby said. “So, if I run a two-setter offense, I can have two right side attackers versus one, and then, that gives us more power and more swing and more options to our offense. So it’s not just the setting capabilities.”
While the setter is still in flux, the backcourt also has its fair share of question marks. The libero position is still in open competition, with junior Lauren Fournier and sophomore Natalie Stephanus figuring to see at least some playing time. The two participated in the Bears’ backcourt by committee approach last season where the team avoided funneling the ball to a specific player as many defenses do.
“Our defense will be a group defense as much as possible,” Walby said. “We’re not going to be able to function without another person helping each other out.”
The only givens heading into this weekend will be middle hitter Caroline Dupont and six-rotation player senior Rexi Sheredy. The two seniors finished first and second on the team in kills and represent two major holdovers from last year. The Bears’ may need their veteran prsence on the court if they hope to continue competing at the national level.
