Volleyball Preview
July 24, 2006 03:02 PM | General
July 23, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- After a successful 2005 campaign, West Virginia’s combination of veterans and talented newcomers are ready to make 2006 a year to be remembered.
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| Junior Kailee Goold is one of seven letterwinners returning for 2006 .
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Head coach Veronica Hammersmith returns to the helm for her 32nd season with the Mountaineers as one of only three coaches in West Virginia athletics history to reach 500 career victories. In the quest for her 17th winning season, Hammersmith welcomes back seven letterwinners from a year ago.
Returning to the starting lineup are four experienced players. The Mountaineers will count on seniors Gina Cusanelli and Aurora Ebert-Santos for leadership, along with junior Kailee Goold and sophomore Lisa Hough who are returning starters.
“Our experienced players have some big shoes to fill offensively,” says veteran head coach Veronica Hammersmith.
“Over 75 percent of our offensive attack graduated last year. We need to find the offense from our returners. Kailee will be the leader on the court who makes our offense run and will have to utilize our players to their best advantage.
Defensively, Aurora will have to lead the back row in making the kind of passes and digs that will enable our offense second chances to attack.”
Cusanelli, a native of Collinsville, lll., emerged as a hard-hitting offensive threat in 2005, finishing fourth on the team in kills and second in assists with 140. Ebert-Santos, a Frisco, Colo., native is back to build on a stellar junior season as she finished with 500 digs, good for second best in a season at West Virginia.
As the setter, Goold will continue to be counted on to set up the Mountaineer offense. Winner of the team’s Outstanding Athlete award in 2005, the Avon Lake, Ohio, product led the team in assists as a sophomore with 1,111, sixth best in WVU history for a single season to rank tenth in career assists with 1,234.
Hough, a middle hitter from Venice, Fla., used her quickness and competitive edge to start all but two matches as a true freshman in 2005. She finished second on the team in blocks with 73, only behind the graduated record-setting Julie Hockenson.
Juniors Ashley Pappas and Abby Tevis will be looked upon to step up their production in 2006. Tevis, who hails from Pittsburgh, Pa., had a solid sophomore campaign and broke out as a true offensive threat late in the season. The outside hitter registered a career-high 15 kills in the match against Syracuse. Pappas, a Lisle, Ill., native provided depth coming off the bench in 2005 and will be counted on for her serving and receiving skills this season.
Sophomore Tammy Wolf saw action in 11 matches. Redshirt freshmen Stephanie Kisner and Delie Marsonek will also see action for the Mountaineers this season.
West Virginia welcomes five newcomers to the 2006 roster to replace three graduating seniors. Outside hitters Kristina Gallahan, Marissa Meyers and Abby Raines, defensive specialist Tamara De Angelis and setter Nicole Jones highlight Hammersmith’s 2006 recruiting class.
The Mountaineers will have to overcome the loss of three record-setting seniors in Hockenson, Kelly Mullins and Stephanie Zolna. Zolna became one of the most explosive athletes in West Virginia history as she finished her career as the all-time leader in kills with 1,404. Coupled with her 1,038 career digs, Zolna became only the ninth player ever to reach the 1,000 kill/1,000 dig club at West Virginia. Hockenson made her mark as one of the best middle blockers in school history, finishing her career with 379, seventh-best in school history. Also a force on the offensive side of the ball, Hockenson had a career kill total of 1,081 and a career hitting percentage of .251.
After posting a 16-13 record and 4-10 in the BIG EAST, the Mountaineers look to keep building and are gunning for their third straight winning season. West Virginia must first take on NCAA tournament qualifiers Duke and Penn State in State College, Pa. Coupled with a tough conference schedule including trips to Rutgers, Syracuse and Notre Dame, the Mountaineers will look to use the home court advantage when facing Pitt, Louisville and Cincinnati.
“Our number one goal has to be to play as a team,” Hammersmith says. “We have a group that can function very effectively if we play hard together. We want to have a winning season, win more matches in conference play and qualify for the conference tournament. None of that will be easy. But we have a hard working group and can attain those goals.”
