The Driving Force
September 25, 2009 02:02 PM | General
September 25, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After starting the season with a solid 10-5 mark in non-conference play, Lauren Evans and the West Virginia University volleyball team are ready to begin Big East competition.
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| Lauren Evans has helped the Mountaineers get off to a strong 10-5 start to the season.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
The junior middle blocker has been the driving force behind WVU’s resurgent season. Entering Saturday’s home contest against Syracuse (at 2 p.m.), Evans is second in the BIG EAST with 0.45 service aces per set average and tenth with a .300 hitting percentage.
The Mountaineers follow Saturday’s match with a Sunday matchup back at the Coliseum against Marquette at 1 p.m. With conference play approaching, Evans believes that it’s time for the team to put its fast start in the rearview mirror and focus on the importance of winning the all-important BIG EAST contests.
“It’s a good start, but I don’t think we’re satisfied,” Evans said. “We want to do really well in conference play. That’s the most important part.”
Hailing from Canyon Lake, Calif. - making her one of six Californians on the squad - Evans enjoyed a successful stint at NAIA school Concordia-Irvine. Her team was a 2007 Final Four participant as well as a 2008 runner-up at the NAIA National Championships.
Despite playing at a smaller school, Evans still got to face her share of talented teams. More importantly, she believes that her two years at Concordia-Irvine were vital in making her the player she is today.
“It prepared me very well because we played in a tough, competitive conference and our school was really good,” Evans added. “We had a really good coach as well.”
Evans has made a tremendous adjustment to playing against a higher level of competition. She is WVU’s main specialist in kills, leading the team with 143 as she uses her 6-foot-2 frame to fend off blockers.
She has also led the Mountaineers to respectable finishes at different tournaments this year. Most recently, she was named tournament MVP at the WVU Invitational, and was an all-tournament team member at both the Akron and Denver Invitational.
Known as a coachable player with a team-first attitude, Evans has been thankful for the learning experience she has received under head coach Veronica Hammersmith and assistant coaches Bakeer Gaines and Ashley Pappas.
“They’ve been really supportive and helpful,” Evans said. “I’ve been giving them input into everything that we do, and we’ve really been talking a lot so it’s been good. We have good communication.”
Having grown up surrounded by palm trees and beautiful weather in southern California, one might think that Evan’s life in Morgantown might be a difficult adjustment. However, she already knew three of her teammates prior to coming to WVU, making her transition less complex.
“It’s been a big adjustment but it hasn’t been difficult in my opinion,” Evans said. “Bonnie (West) and Kiley (Armbuster) are from near where I’m from, and Karly (Rasmussen) as well. It hasn’t been a real challenging transition, but it’s different then what I’m used to.”
While at Concordia-Irvine, Evans made herself known by her fierce play at the net. She averaged 1.74 kills per game, including a career high 10 kills against San Diego Christian. The broadcast news major also averaged 1.14 blocks per game, highlighted by a career high eight blocks against Westmont.
As powerful as it looks on television or in person, Evans says there is more than just jumping and spiking that goes into a kill. There must also be communication, timing and other elements that make a kill work.
“A lot of it is the timing with the setter,” Evans said of perfecting a kill. “Just thinking quick, getting it fast and beating the block on the other side.”
Although she had the opportunities to play volleyball on the beach growing up, Evans never played in an organized manner until her high school years. But once she got started, it was evident that Evans would never relinquish her commitment and dedication to the game.
“I started playing when I was a freshman in high school, so I picked it up later,” Evans added. “I definitely had really good coaching and a lot more opportunities to play with club teams and on the beach. A lot of people start younger (in California) and it is really competitive out there.”
One aspect of playing on the other side of the country that Evans is still adjusting to is not playing in front of her family, including her parents Jon and Monique. However, her parents have been able to see her lead the Mountaineers through the team’s webcasts and live scoring on MSNsportsNET.com, helping to ease the loss of seeing their daughter play in person.
“At Concordia they were able to come to every different game, so it’s different for them. I talk to them everyday and they try and watch every game and they’ve been very supportive,” Evans said.
Despite not having her family in the stands, Evans continues to carry on and lead the Mountaineers toward a promising season. By continuing her reckless play at the net, Evans has her sights set on leading WVU to Louisville for the BIG EAST Championships in late November.
