Aug. 16, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State's volleyball team held its annual media day festivities at Redbird Arena Wednesday afternoon, and head coach Sharon Dingman had plenty to comment on heading into the team's opening match, Aug. 25 at rival Illinois in the first-round of the State Farm Illini Classic.
On how preseason camp has been shaping up,and the team's depth ...
"We are stronger than I thought we would be, and we are inexperienced as I thought we would be, so there really haven't been any surprises as far as that goes. Our middles [Kari Staehlin and Mary Catherine Richmond] are really good. So we're very excited about that. Obviously our setting position is really solid with Erin Lindsey and Jessica Pratapas, our redshirt freshman. And finally, we are just inexperienced on the outside. Jessie Janik and Lindley McDavid are playing there right now, and neither one of them have played that position in college. So we're asking those two to take on a huge role. And then Manoela [Vieira DaCunha] is our most experienced on the outside. So our depth is good, but it is also inexperienced. Outside of our setting, the most solid part of our game would be our defense. Kelly Waterstraat, who was named Most Improved Player last season, has been on fire. And then Kasey Mollerus, one of our freshmen, is every bit as good as we thought she would be. She's very talkative and shows a tremendous amount of leadership as a freshman. So we love our backcourt defense right now. It's going to keep us in a lot of matches this year. So I'm thrilled; I like where we are right now."
On freshman Katie Seyller's (Bloomington native) development and goals...
"One of Katie's goals this year is to create a starting position for herself. Katie is going to be on the court. Again, the thing that she brings is a tremendous amount of athleticism. She is very fast and has a great jump. Regardless of the amount of playing time she gets this year, she is training against great athletes in Kari Staehlin, one of the best middle blockers in the conference, and M.C. (Richmond) who is quickly becoming another of the greats in the league. Katie is coming along very quickly. You can tell Katie is a great athlete and she is a very bright young woman. She is catching on fast and today in practice she was every bit as good as the other three in practice."
On Illinois State's focus on defense in practice as opposed to more offensive practices in the past...
"We knew that one of our strengths would be our defense and our ball handling. Because of the offense we are going to run and because of our size, we know we are going to have to use our athleticism and that is going to start with our first contact (passing the ball). We certainly have amped up our defense and the intensity is there because we are better. We are just really good, and, honestly, we probably are a better defensive team, all-around, despite the fact we lost the Valley Libero of the Year in Ashley Grubb."
On how sophomore Erin Lindsey is developing as a setter and leader...
"She is still a young player and that is going to be easy to forget sometimes because she did have such a remarkable year as a freshman. But she is just going into her second year of playing college volleyball. Where we need Erin to pick up her game is in her leadership. We didn't expect or demand a lot of that from her last year, we really just wanted Erin to be able to set. Erin was selected as one of our team captains and I think that's a great decision, but that is a lot of responsibility, particularly for a sophomore and on a team that has four seniors. Jessie Janik and Lindley McDavid have also been selected team captains. Erin's setting is going to improve naturally, because she is a year older, but we need more out of her, from a leadership standpoint."
On the fifth place pick in the Valley...
"We're going to try to bring this group along slowly because we are inexperienced. It is going to be a process but that's okay. I think our schedule is going to help us. We need to play and win when it counts and that is Thanksgiving Weekend, right here in Redbird Arena, when we host the conference tournament. Fifth is probably a good pick for us, considering where we are. I know that this group will finish higher than fifth because we have things that you can't put on paper. You can't measure chemistry and that is so valuable and it will win us matches. This team has chemistry that coaches dream about and they make the game really fun to play and watch."
On hosting the conference tournament in November...
"We're very excited. We think we put on the best show in volleyball here at Illinois State. Redbird Arena is the best place to showcase Missouri Valley Conference volleyball."
