Volleyball Season Preview

Sophomore right side hitter Ali Loynachan has the ability to be one of the top hitters in the conference this season.

The Volleyball team was recently ranked third in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, and looks to be in their best position yet to win their first ever America East Conference crown.

Reigning champion Binghamton University was picked to repeat as champions with five first place votes and 33 points while University at Albany received one first place vote and 31 points for second place. But one coach does thing UMBC has what it takes to finally threw, as their 24 points came with the help of one first place vote.

UMBC will be without several key players, including three of their top kills leaders: Alyssa Lang (234), Ashley Oscars (203), and Naomi Bush (169); assists leader: Kira Giles (633); and top four leaders in digs: Pam Jarrett (340), Lang (197), Oscars (181), Giles (171).

But that does not mean they team is without talented players. It just means new players, who may be just as if not more talented, can get their chance to step in.

With nine freshman and two sophomores and just two juniors and two seniors, the team will be young. With so much youth it will be key to seniors Sabrina Hoeks and Bianca Sande to hold things together. Hoeks is coming off her second season ending ACL tare in as many years but should still have plenty left to be a major factor on the team. She led the team with 29 aces last season (0.43 per match) and had 101 kills and was second on the team with 45 total blocks. Sande has been used sparingly in her career mostly in situations to break opponents serves, but she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the game.

With Oscars, Lang, and Bush all gone, it is time for sophomore Ali Loynachan to take the reigns as the team’s full time outside hitter. Last year injuries kept her out of seven matches, but she still ranked fourth on the team in kills (138, 2.12 per set) and third in blocks (40). If she stays healthy this season is would not be hard to imagine her getting well over the 200 kill mark, with the possibility of topping the 250 kill plateau.

Hoeks and Sande could both be hitting on the opposite side of Loynachan, but other options are freshmen Ali Goc and Hallie Carter. Goc is one of the many Canadian players that coach Ian Blanchard has pulled in during his tenure, and she is a very good and very established one. She was named the winner of the 2010 Evelyn Holick Award, which is Ontario’s top honor, and has won five straight Canadian Indoor Volleyball National Championship (2005-09), as well as six straight indoor Volleyball Ontatio Championships (2005-10). Carter, a native of Huntington Beach, Calif., was an All-Sunset League selection in 2009-10 and her high school’s Most Valuable Players during her senior season. Emily Vandergrift, who led Loudoun Country High School of Leesburgh, Va. to back-to-back Championships, is another option in a seemingly deep ground.

Locking down a spot in the middle will once again be Iman Kennedy, who has improved greatly in her first two seasons and should be able to improve her team high 77 blocks and 190 kills, which ranked third on the team.

Backing up Kennedy will be 6’1″ redshirt freshman Katie Kelly, 6’2″ freshman Emily Witsaman, who helped lead her club team, Cleveland Volleyball Company, to the 17-National Division of the 2009 USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championship, and Robbin Lee, a Maryland native who was named to the Montgomery County’s All-Star Senior Team in 2009.

Setting up everybody up front will be none other than junior Allie Spaay, who has split time and challenged Giles for a starting role in each of her first two seasons. For a second straight season Spaay finished seconds on the team in assists with 303, 6.31 per set. She also played solid defense with 106 digs, which ranked fifth on the team.

Splitting time with Spaay will be Mallory McIntyre, who was named one of Manitoba’s Top 10 volleyball players of 2010 by the Winnipeg Sun, and Rebecca Garringues, who led Rancho Valley Volleyball Club to the finals of the 2010 Junior National Championships Open Division.

The big question will be who can replace Jarrett as the team’s libero, or defensive specialist. Jarrett had a stellar career at UMBC and locked down that position for four years, ending in a senior year where she led the team with 340 digs and had 28 aces, which was second on the team.

While Hoeks could possibly play libero, the only two true defensive specialists on the team are sophomore Brighid Casey and freshman Kat Lincalis. Neither are known commodities, but Casey did appear in 17 matches last season, recording 21 digs and six aces. Lincalis is a local prospect from Halethorpe that attended Towson High School and was an All-Metro First Team pick in 2009 by the Baltimore Sun.

The bottom line is the team will be young, but full of talent. If Hoeks and Sande can hold them together in their final seasons, they have the ability to win UMBC’s first ever AEC Championship, but if the growing pains are too rough they should be in great position to win in the near future.