Next Year's Roster

[SpanglerFan316]

Remember that Sara was also a 6 rotation player. They were both amazing.

[pogo]

There was another Sara that I felt helped start this whole thing and that was Sara Younes sp? I know she was going to law school. Does anyone know if she finished or what she is doing?

[shock10]

I became a Shocker Volleyball fan because of Sara Younes. I think it was her sophomore year? Karen A. was on that team as well.

[1972Shocker]

I became a Shocker Volleyball fan because of Sara Younes. I think it was her sophomore year? Karen A. was on that team as well.

Ditto here. I think it was her Junior year in my case. My first match was the one where Sara Y. set the single match school record with 14 service aces.

[SpanglerFan316]

People I know who saw Camri Zwiesler play in high school seem to be very excited about her transfer. The coach who recruited her was "fired" before she ever got to ASU and this may have affected her performance. In addition, many WSU players don't shine until their third year (i.e. 1. redshirt year, 2. freshman year, 3. sophomore year); think about Sarah McGee's Shocker career. Cami may just be hitting her stride.

[WuDrWu]

I became a Shocker Volleyball fan because of Sara Younes. I think it was her sophomore year? Karen A. was on that team as well.

Darci Vohs. Yowza.


Shhh....don't tell Sarah.

[shocks771]

I became a Shocker Volleyball fan because of Sara Younes. I think it was her sophomore year? Karen A. was on that team as well.

Darci Vohs. Yowza.


Shhh....don't tell Sarah.

Spot on good doctor. Back then the team had several "yowza's" on it. Let's see, just to name a few from that team: Sara Younes, Darci Vohs, Jackie Brown and Elizabeth Meyers. It is tough to beat that combination of athleticism and beauty on one team.

[SpanglerFan316]

Older articles (but interesting - sorry if already posted.)

http://www.kansas.com/2010/02/21/1191845/injury-helps-add-volleyball-perspective.html

http://www.kansas.com/2010/04/03/1253293/shocker-volleyball-gets-twice.html

[shocker22]

I became a Shocker Volleyball fan because of Sara Younes. I think it was her sophomore year? Karen A. was on that team as well.

Darci Vohs. Yowza.


Shhh....don't tell Sarah.

Spot on good doctor. Back then the team had several "yowza's" on it. Let's see, just to name a few from that team: Sara Younes, Darci Vohs, Jackie Brown and Elizabeth Meyers. It is tough to beat that combination of athleticism and beauty on one team.

I don't know...think I'll go with our squad now as far as looks goes...Mcgee, Waldorf, Church, MEH, and the countless other beautiful girls on the team. Makes me wish I was back in college.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks currently have 21 players on there roster. Volleyball is a headcount sport with 12 scholarships available. So 43% of our roster are players without an athletic scholarship. However, we have many fine students on team, so many of those ladies are probably receiving some kind of academic scholarships.

Still, managing such a large roster and keeping the team chemistry strong says a lot about Lambo's skill and respect as a coach I think.

This is going to be a very interesting year to follow the development of the team.

We have 3 Seniors. Sarah McGee, Lindsey Eckenrode and Amanda Backes. We now Big Mac will be a mainstay on the team. How Lindsey will recover from blowing out her knee remains to be seen. Amanda has great athletic ability and has shown occassional spurts of brilliance but has not yet shown great consistency. Hopefully, she will come on strong in her Senior season ala Kim Wadsworth (although I think Amanda has even more upside).

Our Junior class is Hoop, ASU transfer Camri Zwiesler and Sarah Waldorf.
Hoop is a known quantity and key player. Not sure what we are getting with Camri, but transfers usually go where they think they will get some PT. Waldo has the tools I think, but her skills still need a lot of refining and development, but I would expect her to be in the mix for the key Libero position.

The Sophomore class includes Jackie Church, Emily Adney, Jada Witham and Dana Loganbill. The Church Lady will be in contention with Waldo for the Libero position. Emily Adney showed some great potential last year. This class is interesting because it brings some good size and athleticism to the floor. Whether they are ready to step in as prime-time players remains to be seen.

The Redshirt Freshman Class consist of 9 members, a somewhat mind-boggling number. I can't say I really know much about this large group except that Chelsey Feekin comes very highly touted and some good things have been said about Elizabeth Fields athleticism and potential. Ashley Andrade, a 6'2" MB, has good size and perhaps will get some PT, along with Jada backing up and supporting Big Mac in the middle. This looks to be a real FFA among this group and I would expect this group to begin thinning out after this year. Perhaps even before or during the current season.

We have 2 incoming freshman, Kelsey Banwart from Andover and Hannah Eakin from Wichita Falls, who in all likihood will redshirt.

I am not 100% sure who our 12 players are that are on VB Scholarships, but here is my GUESS:

Sarah McGee (Sr)
Lindsey Eckenrode (Sr)
Amanda Backes (Sr)
Camri Zwiesler (Jr)
Mary Elizabeth Hooper (Jr)
Emily Adney (So)
Dana Loganbill (So)
Elizabeth Field (RFr)
Chelsey Feekin (RFr)
Ashley Andrade (RFr)
Hanna Eakin (Fr)
Jada Witham (So) or Katie Vogts (RFr)

If anyone can help me out here I would appreciate it. I noticed that I don't have any of our Libero candidates on this list. Hard to know who might be on academic scholarship as the team is loaded with good students.

In any case, it will be a very interesting year to see who will emerge as key contributors this year and beyond.

[WuDrWu]

I imagine there will be a lot of experimentation early on.


I expect to see Feekin all over the court for instance.

[xazshox]

Roster

1972 Shocker, it looks like there has to be one correction only to your proposed list of who the 12 are on scholarship. The latest roster on Go Shockers shows the name of Dana Loganbill is missing. I suppose that may be because Camri Zwiesler transferred here and there are other outside hitters besides her that will probably be in the top 4 including Adney, Backes & Eckenrode.

[1972Shocker]

Re: Roster

1972 Shocker, it looks like there has to be one correction only to your proposed list of who the 12 are on scholarship. The latest roster on Go Shockers shows the name of Dana Loganbill is missing. I suppose that may be because Camri Zwiesler transferred here and there are other outside hitters besides her that will probably be in the top 4 including Adney, Backes & Eckenrode.

I have no insight to why Dana appears to have left the program, but you may well be right. Not surprising to see some roster movement with such a large roster. We may very well see additional changes before the season starts (or is over).

Good luck to Dana with whatever direction she is taking.

[1stThings1st]

Here is Lambo's view:

2010 Volleyball Outlook
Release: 08/05/2010

The 2010 Shockers return six letterwinners and three starters from a team that went 26-7 in 2009. WSU finished tied for second in the Valley with a 14-4 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Head coach Chris Lamb returns for his 11th season with the Shocks having led the team to six-straight 25-win seasons and eight-straight Missouri Valley Conference Tournaments.

WSU returns three starters including senior Sarah McGee and juniors Mary Elizabeth Hooper and Sarah Waldorf. McGee and Hooper were both first team all-Valley selections in 2009.

At setter, the Shockers return two-time all-Valley selection Mary Elizabeth Hooper. Last season, Hooper averaged 11.22 assists, 0.75 kills, 2.04 digs and 0.67 blocks per set. Redshirt freshman Chelsey Feekin will also see time on the floor as Lamb finds a way to use the skills of both players.

"Mary Elizabeth is beginning her third year in the program and has been named all-conference every year," Lamb said. "She has been battling some health problems throughout the spring and summer so we will probably go easy on her physically for a while as we learn how to manage it. She is going to do everything she can do and I'm confident we can keep her ready.

"Chelsey Feekin had a top-3 spring on our roster. She has made a lot of strides in her footwork, defense, blocking, serving and her setting tempo. We are very excited about that. We have two setters that most programs in the country wish they had on their roster at the same time. Because of their talents we feel the need to explore the options of playing with them on the floor. So I think I will be tinkering a lot with how to take advantage of their skills."

The right side has a lot of players vying for playing time according to Lamb. Senior Amanda Backes saw a lot of playing time on the right during the 2009 season and averaged 1.73 kills and 0.61 blocks per set. Lamb has the option of using many different players on the right in different situations including junior Camri Zwiesler, redshirt freshmen Sam Sanders, Brianna Kaiser, and Alysa Heath and freshman Hannah Eakin.

"The right side is probably the position where I have the most names on the board," Lamb said. "I can go a lot of different directions, but I hope somebody runs away with it. I would expect Amanda Backes, who is a three-year starter, to be the one, but she has plenty of people right on her tail. We have been training a lot of those girls several different positions. It will be very competitive."

The Shockers return three-year starter Lindsey Eckenrode to the left side in 2010 after she missed the 2009 season with a knee injury. In 2008, she averaged 2.50 kills, 0.89 digs and 0.44 blocks per set. Lamb has a lot of other options on the left including Arizona State transfer Camri Zwiesler, sophomore Emily Adney, redshirt freshmen Katie Vogts, Sam Sanders and Haley Dotson and freshman Hannah Eakin.

"Lindsey Eckenrode will be returning after her season-ending injury last year," Lamb said. "We are hoping that Lindsey will get her explosiveness back that she had two springs ago and last preseason before the injury. If she can get back to that, it will be very exciting for us.

"Emily Adney stayed on the left in the spring and I thought we finally found ways to use her. We made adjustments in the offense and in her routes that helped her to score.

"Camri Zwiesler comes to us with a lot of experience on either antenna. I would be crazy if I didn't think from the start that she would be right in it battling. I believe she is a really well rounded player and I think she is a candidate to be on the floor a lot.

"The left side is where I will be putting most of my thoughts. We are really going to work hard on who is going to play there and how we are going to play."

The Shocks lost two experienced middles in Katie Niggemeyer and Stephanie Tokarz, but return two-time first team all-Valley selection Sarah McGee. Niggemeyer averaged 2.14 kills and 0.72 blocks per set last season, while Tokarz averaged 0.95 kills and 0.97 blocks per set. McGee hit .348 and averaged 2.50 kills and 1.23 blocks per set. Despite losing Niggemeyer and Tokarz, the middle will be deep and competitive as sophomore Jada Witham, redshirt freshmen Elizabeth Field, Ashley Andrade and Brianna Kaiser and true freshman Hannah Eakin compete for playing time.

"Having graduated a lot of really good middles over the last couple of years, we really believe we can be as good as we've ever been this year on both sides of the ball," Lamb said. "I don't think we've ever been as athletic and physical in the middle and I'm expecting that we might put up the best blocking numbers in the middle as we have ever had and I have a feeling with our athleticism and our setting that we can be as busy in the middle as we've ever been.

"Sarah McGee has been a two-time all-conference player and she's a great competitor. I think she has an amazing volleyball IQ and I thought the way she was playing the end of last year and this spring that she was as good as any of the middles we were playing. She has made the most out of her athletic ability and I am very impressed with how she has developed.

"Jada Witham had a top-3 spring on our roster. She really kicked it into gear. She is practicing, training and competing with as much purpose as I've ever seen in her.

"Elizabeth Field is an amazing worker and athlete and has a great brain. All she has done is make an impact since she's gotten here. She could have easily been a starter halfway through last season and I'm fully expecting her to be ready to go.

"Ashley Andrade is playing her best volleyball since she's worn a Shocker uniform. She has a great arm and had a great spring. I'm expecting her to make some noise as well."

Gone from the libero position is Melissa Granville, who played in every match during her four years in a Shocker uniform. In 2009, she averaged 4.55 digs per set. Lamb sees two players competing for the position in junior Sarah Waldorf and sophomore Jackie Church. Redshirt freshman Lindsey Engel will compete for time as a defensive specialist, while true freshman Kelsey Banwart is expected to redshirt.

"The libero position got very competitive this spring," Lamb said. "I would say Sarah Waldorf is in the driver's seat and probably has the edge from a digging standpoint, but Jackie Church also had a top-3 spring on our roster and her serve receive has been exceptional and she has also improved a lot with her defense. That libero position will be very competitive.

"Lindsey Engel is going to have to dig and pass her way into the mix and I think that removing the redshirt label has given her a little more purpose and hopefully she will be attacking this opportunity."

Overall, Lamb is excited and considers the 2010 team to be very talented despite losing five seniors from last year's team.

"Saying goodbye to so many seniors last year who logged so many minutes on the court is tough," Lamb said. "We are transitioning into a new generation. This team that I'm putting together now is kind of the third generation since I've been here and I think that it's fun and exciting. We will see how quickly they can compete at a high level. I think they have the talent to be very good."

WSU begins its season Aug. 27 at the Nike Invitational in Norman, Okla., against Oklahoma and opens Valley play on Sept. 17 at Bradley. Lamb is excited about the early season tournaments and thinks the Valley will be very deep from top to bottom.

"The first weekend is going to be huge," Lamb said. "Miami is slated to be very good this year as is Oklahoma. We need to be ready to go and come home with some wins. It's a great test to see where we are at right off the bat.

"The second weekend at home, I hope that when we are coming off of preseason training that we are not still in flux. I think that these teams (Stephen F. Austin and Portland) are good enough to beat a lot of teams if they aren't ready to go.

"That third weekend, we have another really tough challenge at BYU and against Loyola Marymount and an up and coming program in Houston.

"We are excited to have quality midweek competition with an SMU team that was really competitive with us this spring and another program that is on the rise.

"The Valley will be extremely competitive this season and we are hopeful that our three tournaments will prepare us for Valley play."

[1972Shocker]

Normally, the comments about Mary Elizabeth's health problems would be of great concern. However, sounds like Chelsey Feekin is the real deal and if Mary Elizabeth is not able to go full speed, hopefully, Chelsey will be able to keep us operating at a high level. I know Lambo had to manage around Abby Harsh's back issues her last two years, but he did not have a Chelsey Feekin waiting in the wings if needed. Hopefully, Mary Elizabeth's issues are not too serious and something that won't limit her too much.

So the Top 3 players from the Spring were Chelsey, Jada and Jackie (if I read the article correctly). Interesting in that despite Jackie having a great spring Waldo seems to have the inside track for the Libero position. Still Jackie played a lot last year as a DS and sounds like that will continue this year.

Lambo seemed most excited about what he was seeing in the middle as he spoke very highly of Sarah, Jada, Ashley and Elizabeth.

Hopefully, Lindsey will be able to return to her pre-injury form, but I'm sure that is still a question to be answered.

Looking forward to catching the Pre-VB101 Dinner scrimmage on August 21st (as well as the VB101 Dinner) and to what should be a very interesting season.

:goshocks: