While the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team may be the jewel of the Big West Conference, the team narrowly missed out on cracking the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 national preseason poll, which was released Tuesday afternoon.
LBSU received 132 votes, the most of any team not ranked. Penn State, which finished a perfect 38-0 last season, received 40 of 60 first-place votes to take the top spot.
If a conference three-peat is in store for the 49ers, then it will be done with at least one new starter roaming the net. And a few early injuries to overcome.
Haleigh Hampton and the nation’s 12th-ranked recruiting class, according to PrepVolleyball, will give the back-to-back Big West Conference champions and preseason favorites a different look this year. Hampton, a 6-foot-7 freshman middle blocker, helps fill the void left by departing standouts Naomi Washington and Brittney Herzog.
The injury bug
But first Hampton needs to stay on the practice floor. She has been hampered with a right foot injury, specifically nerve damage between her third and fourth toes which originated in April.
“It’s become pretty painful, it’s hard to play on,” Hampton said last Wednesday. “Sometimes it [feels] good, sometimes it’s bad. … [Hopefully] in two weeks, if I just take it easy on it, I’ll be back and playing.”
Hampton added that surgery will be required after the season.
Head coach Brian Gimmillaro said Hampton is a “very fast, very strong” player who will start immediately, but was uncertain about her status for the Aug. 27 season opener as of the opening week of practice.
Another pair of starters, senior setter Ashley Lee and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Jocelyn Neely, also are banged up. Lee broke her right pinkie finger blocking a ball during the team’s first practice but has continued to practice with it heavily taped.
“I think it’s going to make everyone stronger,” Lee said of the injuries. “I don’t see it as a negative but more as a positive. I wish everybody was healthy, but since we’re not more people are going to have to step up.”
Neely, the team’s right-side hitter, has a left high ankle sprain that was initially thought to be fractured last Wednesday. She said it was a “freak accident” that occurred about three weeks ago on a fall while walking, but has since returned to practice.
Gimmillaro said sophomores Jessica Thomas and Sarah Clause are among fill-ins being considered, if Neely is unable to play by the season opener.
Plenty of weapons
Also new to The Beach are setter Ashley Vazquez, defensive specialist Chelsea Cabrajac, outside hitter Delainey Aigner-Swesy and middle blocker Kiri Hirini.
Aigner-Swesy, like Hampton, is expected to “be incredibly valuable to [the team’s] success” this season, Gimmillaro said, and will compete with sophomore Janisa Johnson for playing time on the left side.
There will be more than enough experience returning to the LBSU lineup, including five starters from a team that finished 22-9 overall and 12-4 in the conference. Along with Lee and Neely, juniors Caitlin Ledoux, Lauren Minkel and Michelle Osunbor will help ease the transition for the five members of the 2010 recruiting class.
Osunbor will help carry the load at the net as Hampton adjusts to the collegiate level. The 6-foot-2 middle blocker led the 49ers with 117 total blocks and ranked fifth on the squad with 136 kills.
“Michelle is better, a good blocker and becoming a better hitter,” said Gimmillaro, who is entering his 26th season.
Expected to lead the firing squad is Ledoux, a two-time All-Big West first-team selection whose 415 kills led all LBSU returners. Eventually joining her at outside hitter will be Neely, who swatted 175 kills last year to earn a spot on the conference’s all-freshman team.
Lee, who will return to the same position for the first time in her collegiate career, will set the table for the big hitters. She played in the back row her freshman season and at outside hitter in her sophomore campaign. Her 1,232 assists (second most in the conference) were good enough to earn All-Big West first-team honors last season.
Minkel, who ranked second in the conference in digs (485, fourth most in a season in LBSU history) and digs per set (4.29), will return to crash the floor at the libero position.
The Big West contenders
The path to an automatic bid, and 24th consecutive NCAA tournament, should prove to be just as tough as last season’s five-set nail-biter to decide the Big West champion on the final night of conference play.
UC Irvine (22-8, 11-5 Big West), the team LBSU edged for the crown, will return five starters to its lineup.
Selected to finish second behind the 49ers in the preseason poll, the Anteaters will be led by All-Big West first-teamers Kari Pestolesi and Julianne Piggott. Despite being a win away from the conference title, UCI did not qualify for the postseason.
UC Santa Barbara (22-8, 11-5 Big West), however, earned an at-large selection to the 64-team field. The Gauchos also will return five starters, but last season’s Big West Player of the Year Rebecca Saraceno completed her collegiate career.
Picked to finish third in the Big West, UCSB will turn to setter Dana Vargas and middle blocker Stacey Schmidt — both all-conference first-team selections — for its production.
“I think the conference is better simply because of numbers,” Gimmillaro said, referring to most of the starting lineups returning.
Continuing the trend, last season’s surprise team UC Davis (20-10, 11-5 Big West) will return five starters, including all-conference honorable mention selections Betsy Sedlak, Kayla Varney and Allison Whitson. The Aggies were picked to finish fifth, along with Cal Poly (9-20, 5-11 Big West).
Tabbed to slide into UCD’s spot is Cal State Fullerton (18-12, 8-8 Big West), which was selected to finish fourth and will feature reigning conference Freshman of the Year Kayla Neto.
“I think the competition is going to be extremely good,” Lee said. “We’re going to have to work our butts off.”
Early home cooking
The 49ers will play six of their first eight matches at the Walter Pyramid. The team will host the Long Beach State Baden Classic (against Rutgers, UNLV, Sacred Heart and No. 25 Saint Mary’s) and Mizuno Invitational (against No. 22 San Diego and Virginia).
Sandwiched between will be a two-match trip to Austin, Texas to face Florida A&M and No. 3 Texas in early September. Last season, the 49ers nearly upset the national runner-up Longhorns in four sets at the Pyramid, instead falling in five sets.
The ‘Niners will then travel to Colorado to play four matches in two days (Virginia Commonwealth, No. 17 Colorado State, Middle Tennessee State and Denver), followed by a match at Loyola Marymount before hosting CSUF in the conference opener in late September. LBSU went 8-0 at home in Big West play.
“The schedule will truly help us if we’re successful because there’s a lot of teams that will be regionally ranked very high,” Gimmillaro said. “We need to [start strong]. My biggest concern right now is health. I think the players need some seasoning.”
LBSU will step on the court Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. in an alumni match at the Gold Mine. The Beach officially opens the 2010 campaign Aug. 27 against Rutgers at the Pyramid. First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The 49ers will return to the court later that day at 7 p.m. against UNLV.
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