UMBC

SEASON OUTLOOK

The 2010 volleyball team may be one of the youngest teams in the country in terms of the number of freshmen on the team, but head coach Ian Blanchard does not see any reason why the Retrievers can not make the America East Championships for the third consecutive year and the fourth time in five campaigns.

“The freshmen have really bought in to what the veterans and Sarah (Warner, assistant coach) and I have been preaching,” Blanchard said. “We’re close-knit like a family and its going to be exciting to see this family grow as the season progresses.”

With nine freshmen, eight true and one redshirt, veteran leadership is vital to the team’s success and Blanchard says seniors Bianca Sande and Sabrina Hoeks and juniors Iman Kennedy and Allie Spaay are the right leaders to guide this team.

Sande and Hoeks have had to deal with injury issues throughout their UMBC tenures. Sande missed her entire sophomore season, and her junior year was affected after two shoulder surgeries, while Hoeks has torn both of her ACLs in the past two seasons, but Blanchard says both are good mentors for the youngsters on the squad.

“Unfortunately, Bianca has suffered many injuries to her shoulder than no one should ever have to endure, but she’s dealt with it with a positive approach to training, a never-give-up attitude, and she has tremendous leadership qualities,” the coach said.

“Most people once they’ve been bucked off the horse twice like (Hoeks has), would’ve said ‘I’m not getting back on, I’m done with this,’ but Sabrina has taken the opposite approach,” Blanchard continued. “She doesn’t back away from challenge. She’s an animal in the weight room and it shows with how fast she’s able to recover from these injuries. She won’t be denied and is a stronger person because of the adversity that she’s overcome.”

Due to so many injuries on the team last year, Kennedy was forced to start every match with a nagging knee injury herself, while Spaay split time with the graduated Kira Giles at the setter position. This year, Blanchard has seen both step up their work ethic and leadership roles.

“Iman has always worked hard, but she has really stepped it up a notch this year,” he said, “Allie gets after it in practice, in the weight room, in whatever she does, and is a really excellent student in the classroom like Iman. They’re both great examples for the freshmen because they work really hard both athletically and academically.”

OUTSIDE HITTER

With added depth in the middle this year, Hoeks has moved back to the outside where she started her UMBC career. She led the America East last year in aces per set with 0.43 per set.

“Sabrina’s been forced to have her game evolve. She’s recognized that she needs to be wiser and have more range as an outside hitter,” Blanchard said. “When she first got here, it seemed that she thought that the only reason she would get blocked is because she didn’t hit it hard enough, but she realized she needs to be a smarter hitter. When she needs to though, she can still hit the ball extremely hard.”

Hoeks will be joined on the outside by freshmen Emily Vandegrift and Ali Goc. Sophomore Ali Loynachan will man the right-side position once again, while Vandegrift or fellow freshman Emily Witsaman will add depth.

“Vandegrift is a strong young woman,” Blanchard said. “She’s 6-1, has a heavy arm and can put the ball away. I expect really good things from her.”

Goc comes highly decorated from Ontario, where she and Loynachan were club teammates. Goc was named the 2010 winner of the Evelyn Holick Award, Ontario’s most prestigious individual honor, and she was part of the first team to win five consecutive Canadian National Championships and six straight provincial crowns.

“Ali Goc has an extremely fast arm, she’s excellent on serve receive, has a vast amount of range and brings Canadian National Championship experience,” the coach said. “She won five straight national titles so she knows how to play in pressure matches and come through in the clutch.”

Loynachan had 138 kills and 14 aces as a freshman but missed a month of the year with mononucleosis and was bothered by a lingering shoulder injury.

“Ali Loynachan had offseason shoulder surgery but has really worked hard to get back to the level that she achieved at the beginning of last year before she got mono,” Blanchard said. “She worked out with a physiotherapist and a personal trainer over the summer, and by the time the conference season comes around, she’ll be stronger than I’ve ever seen her.”

Freshmen Hallie Carter and Robbin Lee could also see time at outside hitter.

MIDDLE BLOCKER

Kennedy led a Retriever squad that finished second in the America East in blocking a year ago with 77 total blocks. She will be joined in the middle by redshirt freshman Katie Kelly, who missed last year due to a shoulder injury, and true freshman Emily Witsaman.

“Katie has taken the challenge of missing a year due to injury and realized that she needed to step up her training and has done so,” Blanchard said. “She’s worked really hard and grew a little, plus she’s jumping higher, so she’s even longer than she was before.

“Emily Witsaman has a really good arm, is an excellent blocker and can play anywhere on the front row,” he continued. “As she continues to develop, she’s going to become a big part of our offense over the next couple of years.”

Another freshman who could see time in the middle is Lee, who Blanchard calls a utility player.

“Robbin Lee can play anywhere on the court and be able to compete at a high level,” the coach said.  “Whether it’s in the front row or the back row, the left side, middle or right side, she’s smart and works really hard. Whenever there’s a chance to get extra reps, she’s the first one in line and just wants to get better.”

SETTER

Spaay is the incumbent at the setter position, but Blanchard sees freshmen Rebecca Garrigues and Mallory McIntyre making the battle for playing time a very close three-headed competition.

“I expect all three setters to contribute in one way or another this season,” the coach said. “We have added depth this year because all three are good, legit setters. Allie’s been in the system longer and has two years of DI experience, but both of the freshmen started in club national championship matches last year, with Mallory in Canada and Rebecca in the U.S., so all three have big-game experience, have been in high-pressure matches and will give us a high chance at success this year.”

DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST/LIBERO

The battle for libero is between two freshmen, Carter and Kat Lincalis, and Blanchard has been impressed with both so far in preseason workouts.

“Hallie has an extremely high work ethic and is very driven, but Kat is a highly intelligent player and a very good defender for us,” he said. “Both of them never take repetitions off, they don’t lose focus during a long point and they are very connected with the task at hand.”

FINAL WORD

“The conference is wide open this year, with four teams going 5-5 last year and one of them (Binghamton) winning the championship,” the coach said. “I think that we have as great of an opportunity as anybody this year to go far in the tournament.

“We’re going to be a much better ball-control team, and when you have ball control, you increase your chances of winning by a very high margin,” he added. “If the girls continue to work hard and continue to pass well, then we have a good chance of going far this year.”