I mentioned earlier that there were three tremendous senior players who left UD due to graduation. When that happens it opens a huge window of opportunity to freshmen or other players who haven’t been starting. Kelly Sheffield has also left the program giving a great opportunity to Matt Affolder. When asked about coaching his first match at the Frerick’s Center Matt replied:

“I think it will be a lot of fun to walk in the Frericks Center and see the team warming up for their first match. Considering I was sitting on the bench for 5 years, I guess I had better get used to standing up for a few hours!”

Matt has his work cut out for him to continue the run of great success without hitting some speed bumps. The Flyers return five starters but lost the two time A10 player of the year (Rachel Krabacher), two time A10 setter of the year (Sam Selsky) and Paige Vargas who was #2 all time in digs.

Despite the losses to graduation the Flyers return five starters:

Megan Campbell is a tremendous middle hitter who will compete for A10 player of the year awards.

Alaina Turner played some great offensive matches for UD last year as a true freshman.

Isolde Hannan has been starting for two seasons at Middle Blocker. She is 6’0″ but jumps extremely well and has greatly improved her offense.

Janna Kraftka started as a freshman libero last year and will continue to improve this season.

Shayne Brown is a 6’0″ RS hitter. Every season Shayne is challenged for the starting RS position but she continues to start.

There are several players competing for playing time and starting positions.

Sophomore setter Jenna Jendryk had 35 assists in the Red/Blue match and freshman Rachel Fortner had 31 assists. This would appear to be a very tight battle for the starting setter position. I guess we will find out on Friday who the starter is. I think that the setting position is in good hands either way.

Aubreigh Applegate had 19 digs to go with 10 assists. If she is playing back row with Janna Kraftka it would appear to make a great tandem. Matt mentioned after the Red/Blue game that the defense was very good.

Angel Agu was singled out by Matt as playing much better than last year and making it a tough competition with Isolde Hannan.

Rachel Jones was a tremendous defensive player in high school that Kelly Sheffield was excited about. I haven’t heard anything about her prior to the season starting.

Ally Morey was singled out by Kelly as being very important to the team from a leadership standpoint. I think that Ally has improved each season and hope she goes out with a bang.

I haven’t heard anything definite on freshmen Alyssa Beach (MB) and Lauren Gresham (OH) to this point. Alyssa is 6’3″ and Lauren is 6’2″ which gives the Flyers a big boost in height.

The Flyers had a Red/Blue scrimmage last weekend and when I asked Matt about what he learned: “That we have a lot to work on!!! I think we have some servers that can really disrupt the other team. I also saw some good performances from our back row players (Libero and Defensive Specialists)”. I’ve mentioned before that I love watching Janna Kraftka play and she might not be the tallest person on the team but she is a BEAST.

Matt wasn’t willing to share the opening lineup with me, said to simply be there at 7pm on Friday and see for myself, LOL. It is very possible that the team only found out today.

“We have some healthy competition in every position this season. I can tell you that the M2 spot that Isolde has held the past two years is a good battle as Angel Agu is faster and stronger than ever. We also have people getting after it in the back court to fill some passing/defensive positions. Their stats/numbers progress daily which will hopefully make them stronger for the team”.
　
OFFENSE

Megan Campbell is a beast at MB but she will need others to contribute so she isn’t facing a double block on every hitting attempt. Jill Loiars showed at the end of last season that she can be a difference maker on offense because she brings raw power to the lineup. Alaina Turner should be improved this year. It is tough to immediately replace an outside hitter like Rachel Krabacher with one player. Shayne Brown can be REALLY effective when she gets going but the team needs for her to be consistent match to match. Everyone needs to improve their hitting percentages so Megan Campbell can pound the ball.

I have to expect some offensive struggles early but if the team spreads the ball and everyone is effective this might not happen.

DEFENSE

The Flyers lost the all time #2 dig leader in Paige Vargas but Janna Kraftka was the starting libero last season. It sounds like Aubreigh Applegate is seizing her opportunity to play after performing very well in the Red/Blue game.

And don’t forget Ally Morey who has improved her defense every season. I think that the defense and serve receive will be very good this season but it remains to be seen if either setter can come close to playing the defense that Sam Selsky played from the setter position.

SETTING

I have no idea. I really like how Jenna Jendryk plays volleyball, she is a very talented and cerebral player. Rachel Fortner was a highly rated recruit out of high school and she played well in the Red/Blue scrimmage. I’m sure the competition has made both of them better players. Offensively I think either of them can do the job setting but they might miss Sam Selsky on defense and keeping the defense honest with her attacks on balls close to the net.

THIS WEEKEND

I expect the Flyers to win three matches this weekend as they tuneup for a huge tournament in Nebraska. But, I don’t expect them to win every set. I would expect some periods of learning on the fly.

Tulsa is in a similar situation to UD. They have been to the NCAA tournament for three straight seasons. But, they lost their all time leader in kills and their setter who was 2nd all time in assists. They also lost their starting libero and will start a freshmen in her place.

Northeastern has a very experienced team with Juniors or Seniors at every position. They were 20-7 last year and 9-3 in CAA play. They worked on team building prior to the season and expect “this year will be different”.

Missouri State will be the opponent on Saturday evening. They are another experienced team that finished 16-15 last season. Their setter Carly Thomas is a two time first team setter in the MVC.

For the season I expect the Flyers to win the A10 conference but will be surprised if they are undefeated. The obvious goal is sweet sixteen or better in the ncaa tournament.