By Robert Weiler
The BYU women”s volleyball team will be a force to be reckoned with this season in the race for the 2004 Mountain West Conference championship.
Coming off a 24-9 season and advancing to the second round in the NCAA tournament in 2003, the Cougar women had a turnaround year after a disappointing 14-19 season in 2002. The Cougars finished third in the conference last year, and are predicted to finish in second place behind defending regular season and MWC tournament champion Colorado State in 2004.
Head coach Karen Lamb said she wants her team to work on the fundamentals before the season opener against Quinnpiac on Friday in Pennsylvania.
“We still need to get better at passing and serving,” she said. “We”re making some strides. It”s just a matter of getting our starters together.”
Lamb said everyone has equal opportunity to start, including the 11 freshmen that make up half the squad.
“They”ve added a lot of depth to our team that we didn”t have last year,” she said. “I”ve been really pleased with our freshmen.”
The Cougars will need the added depth with three key losses from last season, including blocking specialist Carrie Bowers and Laura Nielsen. Returning, however, will be Kim Wilson, who led the team in kills, 6-foot-4 blocker Lindsy Hartstock and setter Lauren Richards, one of only two players to play in every game last season.
Richards said the team will benefit from the experience of the team, but will need to continue to improve.
“We need to put more balls away on the first kill,” she said. “That will be huge.”
BYU will also benefit from a strong cast of seniors, including outside hitters Lindsey Metcalf and April Varner.
“I think our seniors are really key to how we do,” Lamb said. “Senior leadership is crucial, so I think each of them will have to step forward.”
The Rams will look to continue their undefeated conference season record from last year, and have plenty of experience to do so, returning all six seniors, including MWC Co-Player of the Year Melissa Courtney.
Archrival Utah will be in the hunt again this year after finishing No. 23 in the polls last season, but will have a major hole to fill in the middle without MWC Co-Player of the Year and All-American Kim Turner.
Lamb said with this year”s recruiting and Richards” year of experience setting will put the Cougars in the mix for the Mountain West.
“We have a shot at the championship,” she said. “We”ve filled some holes nicely, and winning the championship is our goal.”
BYU will have its hands full long before the conference season gets underway on Sept. 24, playing matches against two teams in last year”s Elite Eight. The Cougars start the season Friday on the road at the Penn State Classic tournament, which will include taking on the No. 8 Nittany Lions. The two teams faced off last year in Provo, where the Cougars held home court, winning in five games. Later in the month, No. 3 UCLA will come into the Smith Fieldhouse as part of the BYU/Utah Challenge on Sept. 17-18.
The Cougars” first home game of the season is on Sept.10 against Memphis in the Smith Fieldhouse.
