Griz volleyball team opens season Saturday
8/10/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 10, 2013
Being a fan of the Montana volleyball program in 2013 is, more than anything, a test of one's faith. It is about believing in that which is unseen and staunchly holding on to that belief in the face of that which is seen -- a 6-23 record a year ago and a second straight season without a Big Sky Conference tournament appearance.
So when a longtime member of eighth-year coach Jerry Wagner's flock begins to stray, caught up in the alluring successes of Montana's other sports programs, a pilgrimage to the coach's office -- like someone seeking a miraculous healing at Lourdes -- becomes necessary.
The mood in the office feels like a confessional -- Jerry, my eyes have begun to wander -- but the meeting can really be summed up in just a single question: Why should I believe that this year is going to be any different than last year?
Because it's easy to get lost in the negatives of 2012: The 6-23 record. The 4-16 league mark that stuck the Grizzlies in last place in the Big Sky for the first time since 2005, the year before Wagner's arrival. The 1-11 road record. The .176 team hitting percentage (while opponents hit .233). The 2-10 start to the year and the season-ending eight-match losing streak.
The question, direct and to the point, catches Wagner off guard, mostly because he never wavers in his positive view of his program. He pauses, gathers himself, then starts proselytizing in an attempt to reel the wayward follower back into the fold.
Had we forgotten:
* The injuries? With an eye toward a sizeable freshman class in 2013, Wagner gambled with a thin roster in 2012, and it didn't pay off.
Outside hitter Paige Branstiter suffered a high ankle sprain in late September, missed six matches and never returned to anything close to 100 percent. Libero Megan Murphey tore an ACL in late October and missed the season's final seven matches. Middle blocker Capri Richardson had an ankle injury that allowed her to play just five sets after Sept. 21. And middle blocker Natalie Jones missed matches as well.
* The near misses? In hindsight, the entire season probably hinged on matches played the last two weekends in September.
At home on back-to-back weekends against Portland State, Eastern Washington, Weber State and Idaho State early in the Big Sky schedule, Montana went 1-3, with all three losses coming in five agonizing sets: 15-13 in the fifth set against both Portland State and Weber State and 15-12 against Idaho State.
In all, Montana lost six five-set matches during league play, including three of the season's final five matches, when the Grizzlies were most shorthanded and running on near empty.
* The never-quit attitude that Montana displayed through the season's final matches?
Montana's postseason hopes officially ended Nov. 9, the night it lost at home to Northern Arizona in three sets. How did the Grizzlies respond? By taking Southern Utah to five sets the next night, then doing the same thing their next time out, at Sacramento State.
* Though they were few, the successes? How Montana beat Sacramento State quite handily in four sets at home, then went over to Montana State three nights later, promptly dropped the opening two sets by ugly scores of 25-16, 25-17, but fought back for a rousing five-set victory? Or how the Grizzlies knocked off Big Sky tournament champion Northern Colorado the next weekend?
* How in the midst of a disappointing season Montana's volleyball players still posted a fall-semester GPA of 3.48 and had five of its 13 players, nearly 40 percent of the roster, post 4.0 term GPAs?
So ... it was 1) a team that was shorthanded, that 2) kept putting itself in a position to win matches, that 3) competed well against the best teams in the Big Sky, and 4) maintained its academic focus. And as the 2013 season begins, the bandwagon has plenty of seats available ... why?
Considering Wagner coached his team to top-four finishes in the Big Sky Conference four of his first five seasons and had the league's hottest team at the right time in 2010 -- at the league tournament -- what he says next may come as a surprise.
"I was as confident in last year's team as any we've had here, and that never changed throughout the season," he says. "We knew going in we were going to be thin, and some untimely injuries and lack of depth didn't allow us to get any long-term momentum in the conference season.
"But at no time did anyone let down from giving their best. I never got the impression that anyone didn't think we couldn't start a run our next day in the gym, something that could have gotten us back in the race."
Wagner has an appealing and unflagging optimism in his program, and he's rolling now.
"Looking back at it, for them to keep putting themselves in those (five-set) positions, all the way down to the very last match, with a next-person-up mentality to cover our injuries, was probably a feather in our cap. It was a lot of people giving it their all."
All of which helps explain 2012, but, again, why should we believe that this year is going to be any different than last year? Mainly because nothing in the last decade of Grizzly volleyball was more magical than the last two weeks of the 2010 season, and 2013 is looking tantalizingly similar.
Start with the returners. Four starters, all upperclassmen, are back, plus Murphey, a senior, at libero, who is close to all the way back from her rehabilitation.
The steady presence in the middle is senior Brooke Bray, named second-team All-Big Sky Conference last season after finishing tied for second in the league in blocks (1.26/s) and third in hitting percentage (.338). That percentage was the second-best single-season average in UM history.
On the left side is senior Kayla Reno, one of the Big Sky's top outside hitters. Her numbers and lack of postseason accolades may not indicate as much, but with fewer and fewer offensive options available last year as the season progressed, Reno ended up being set over 1,200 times, which was almost 500 more than any other UM player. That predictable pattern of attack led to Reno hitting just .191 against constant double blocks instead of something closer to .225.
Junior right-side hitter Kelsey Schile, who is also a capable backup setter, ranked third on the team in kills and blocks as a sophomore, and senior setter Kortney James, who ranks No. 6 in program history with 2,861 career assists, is back to run the offense.
That's a foundation of five experienced players, all stalwarts in the program for the last two (Schile) or three (the four seniors) seasons.
Four other letterwinners return, three of whom are middle blockers, making that the team's deepest position in 2013. Senior Janele Vogt, plus Jones, a redshirt junior, and Richardson, a redshirt sophomore, will vie to be in the rotation with Bray.
Outside hitter Gabby Crowell, a sophomore who showed flashes of her potential in 2012, suffered a back injury during the spring season and will cautiously be eased back into fulltime action in the opening weeks of the preseason.
Redshirt freshman Sadie Ahearn, a defensive specialist, is the team's 10th returning player.
Which all sounds thin, especially on the outside, and not at all like 2010. So what is Wagner talking about?
Three years ago, an unforgettable senior class of Jaimie Thibeault (three times first-team All-Big Sky), Brittney Brown (2009 Big Sky Conference Libero of the Year) and Stephanie Turner was buttressed by, of all things, a talented freshman class: Bray, Reno, Murphey and James.
Those four are now seniors, and it's time for a new freshman class to infuse the seniors' final season with a jolt of fresh energy.
"We're going to be better this season, first of all, because we have five veteran players with a wealth of experience who have been leaders in their positions," Wagner said. "But the real shot in the arm is the five incoming players.
"Thinking back four years ago, when our current seniors were the new players, they came into a similar scenario, with a team that had some established, veteran players who were at the top of their positions in the league. Their arrival allowed everyone to play at a higher level."
Welcome the team's five-player freshman class. No pressure or anything.
With middle blocker locked down for 2013, Wagner and his ace recruiting coordinator, Allison Lawrence, ignored that spot and instead looked to bolster the outside, positions that will be even more in the spotlight with Crowell's day-to-day status.
Claire McCown, of Spice Wood, Texas (Lake Travis High), a player who has known nothing but prep and club success, and Tess Hellerud, of Red Lodge, Mont. (Red Lodge High), are both players with experience predominantly as middle blockers. Both will be converted to outside hitters as collegians.
Michelle Robinson, of Honolulu, Hawaii (Mid-Pacific Institute), is a left-handed right-side hitter, whose physical characteristics allow her the ability to hit back sets just a split second quicker than a right-handed player in that position. Her presence on the court will allow the team to move toward the faster offense Wagner wants to run.
Raegan Lindsey, of Highland, Utah (Lone Peak High), gives Wagner depth at setter behind (or in addition to) James and a nasty server to insert into special situations. Brielle Rolle, of Missoula (Big Sky High), is a defensive specialist who solidifies the back line with Murphey and Ahearn and provides another serving threat.
Sound familiar?
"This class really excites the coaching staff," Wagner said. "I think they are going to impart the same type of will on the team we saw out of our seniors when they were freshmen back in 2010. They are going to provide the finishing pieces to the puzzle and give us a team with really solid depth.
"I'm counting on all five to do their jobs and the 10 returners to do theirs, and that's why I'm excited about this team. Given our depth and the right health, I have every confidence that we are going to be where we need to be when this is all said and done, and that's right in the thick of things."
And so we, Griz volleyball fans, take another leap of faith, and we become congregants once again in the West Auxiliary Gym, filled with the spirit of everything new and hope for things recently unseen.
