Heading into her teams only public pre-season scrimmage Saturday at Redbird Arena, coach
Sharon Dingman wasnt sure how her comeback playersfour coming off surgerieswould play.
But
Megan O'Connell, coming off a shoulder surgery, and
Jenny Kabbes, coming back from two shoulder surgeries, made big contributions during the two, best-of-three matches played Saturday at Redbird Arena.
OConnell, a junior outside hitter, served six unanswered points in the decisive game of the Red teams 30-28, 18-30, 15-10 victory in match one. After Dingman shuffled her lineups for match two, Kabbes hammed 12 kills in 13 attempts to lead the White team to a 30-15, 15-8 decision.
We saw some good things, said Dingman, who also praised the work of senior outside hitter
Abby Lewis and setter
Becky Weber.
Lewis was on the winning side in both matches. Webers 15 set assist, 4 service aces, 5 digs and 3 kills bolstered the White squad in the second match.
Abby adds a defensive enthusiasm to our team that nobody else can, said Dingman. And shes good! She plays more balls up and that allows people to swing at more balls and be successful.
Weber, a first-team all-Missouri Valley choice last year, simply makes plays.
Becky is our leader and has been our leader for the two years weve been here, said Dingman, entering her second season as head coach. We arent surprised when she shows that.
The Redbirds open the season Friday against No. 26 Louisville in the opening round of the Barker GMC Classic at 7 p.m. in Redbird Arena. Wisconsin-Milwaukee meets Missouri-Kansas City in the first match at 4 p.m.
