Post by TheSantaBarbarian on Aug 31, 2005 21:59:05 GMT -5
A nice (detailed) article from the local SB newspaper on the team and the changes Kathy and Coach McLaughlin are implementing this year and also "who's hot" on the team right now going into the first matches.
Megan Blackshire is not the biggest kid on the block.
But UCSB's senior middle blocker is a huge reason why the 15th-ranked Gauchos are residing in the high-rent district of college volleyball.
"This is my last year," said the 6-foot veteran, "so I'm hoping for Elite 8."
Blackshire's final spin around the block begins Friday at the Aquafina Volleyball Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., where UCSB will face Missouri State at 7 a.m. PDT and Dayton at 2:30 p.m. A 12:30 p.m. date against the host school, No. 8 Florida, looms on Saturday.
Blackshire, the only senior on UCSB's 16-player roster, welcomes the challenge. She earned her second NCAA All-West Region award last year after her hitting percentage of .386 set a Gaucho record and ranked 18th nationally.
"Megan may be undersized, but she's probably the most competitive player out there," said Gregory. "When she plays, she plays with heart. She talks. She realizes that she's a focal point of the team, and she sets a good standard.
"She's very quick in transition, so when we get her involved offensively, she really helps the team. There's not a quicker player out there."
There are also few who are smarter. Blackshire, a law and society major, has won both Golden Eagle Scholar Athlete and Big West All-Academic honors.
"She has things in perspective," said Gregory. "She does her job in every part of her life, and that's why she's so good to have."
Blackshire plans to attend law school after UCSB, although it will require a quick transition on Oct. 1.
"I'm taking the LCATs that morning, and we're playing UC Irvine that night," she pointed out. "That's four hours of testing. I'll probably feel like getting all the stress out in the match."
Blackshire is the trigger to an imposing Gaucho front that includes a trio of 6-foot-3 towers: Junior Olivia Waldowski, who led the Big West Conference with 1.42 blocks per game; sophomore Bethany Johansen, who made the league's All-Freshman team after hitting .345; and rapidly improving sophomore Brett Quirarte, who has been a standout in preseason drills.
"Our experience is in the middle," said Gregory, who plans to take advantage with an occasional 6-2 offense, a new blocking scheme and a quicker attack.
Blackshire hopes it's enough for UCSB to surpass its Sweet 16 season of 2002. She is the only holdover from that squad.
"I had an amazing squad my freshman year," she said. "That team had two All-Americans (setter Brooke Niles, now an assistant coach, and middle blocker Danielle Bauer). And we had Courtney Guerra, too.
"I don't think we've ever been as intense as that year. This team could be as good, it's just a matter of what everyone gives to it."
Gregory is pulling out all the stops, which includes hiring Rick McLaughlin, a former head men's coach at Loyola Marymount, as a new assistant coach. One of McLaughlin's first chores was to install a new swing-blocking scheme to take advantage of UCSB's athleticism up front.
"We were No. 1 in the Big West for blocking last year -- but for as many walls as we have, as I like to call them, we could have better blocking," said Blackshire. "I think that swing blocking is going to make us much better.
"Basically, you take an approach to block instead of doing the regular three-step. The hitter thinks she sees a hole in the block, but it swings to close. It's a little harder for outside hitters to read because you don't know when the block is closing."
The emergence of sophomore Kayce Matthess has also convinced Gregory to occasionally use her with starting setter Ashley Dutro in a 6-2 (two-setter) alignment.
"When you look at the size of the top teams in the country like Nebraska and Stanford, it's very hard to counter-attack with the 5-1," she said. "Some of our bigger players such as Brett, Olivia, Megan and Bethany are also playing very well, so it would help me to have all of those 6-foot-3 players, and Megan, on the court all of the time.
"When you have three hitters on the front row, it's much easier to get a sideout because they can't gang up on just two players."
Dutro, a 5-7 sophomore, earned Big West All-Freshman honors last year while sharing the setting chores with graduated senior Mari Bell.
"Ashley is maturing as a setter," said Gregory. "She's running a quicker offense. We know how athletic and quick she is.
"Her ability to make correct decisions on which hitter is the right one to set, and on the good rhythm -- and she's been doing that very well in practice -- will be the big key."
She has a potent weapon on the outside with 5-10 junior Janine Sandell, who joined Blackshire on the NCAA All-Region team last year after averaging 4.28 kills per game. Her adjustment to a quicker attack may be crucial to UCSB's success.
"Janine usually likes a higher set," said Gregory. "But we're using a back-row BK set, which is a little bit lower. If we're in system, we can go a little bit quicker. If we're not, then they can call it."
Gregory has been most pleased with her other left-side hitter, junior Emily Hendrickson.
"She's come a long way," she said. "I really respect how hard she's worked all summer and how she's gone from starting last year, then to playing just back row, and now to becoming one of the integral parts of the team.
"She's going to be the main passer. I would have to say she's the best passer. The experience is in the middle, but the outsides are really going to be the bulls of the team. They're going to have to do so much for us."
The biggest hole to fill is at libero. Brittany San Jose, a freshman who has won junior national titles on both the indoor club and beach circuits, is being asked to replace honorable mention All-American Kristin Nelson.
"She's not as experienced, although she's getting better every day in practice," said Gregory. "I'm sure teams are going to go after her, and that's going to put a lot of pressure on a freshman. But I do have confidence that she's going to get better and better."
She also plans to make use of the strong jump-serve of junior Jamie Garbisch, who ranked sixth in the Big West last year with 0.38 aces per game. Highly recruited freshmen Jaimarie Sutherland and Lauren McLaughlin -- both of whom made PrepVolleyball.com's "Senior Aces" list -- will be backups at outside hitter through the early going.
UCSB will be the only team making its season debut in the Aquafina Invitational. Missouri State (2-1), Akron (2-0) and Florida (1-0) all opened up last weekend.
"I'm probably not pushing as hard in the beginning because I need us to pace ourselves," said Gregory. "The important thing is to just be improving."
Megan Blackshire is not the biggest kid on the block.
But UCSB's senior middle blocker is a huge reason why the 15th-ranked Gauchos are residing in the high-rent district of college volleyball.
"This is my last year," said the 6-foot veteran, "so I'm hoping for Elite 8."
Blackshire's final spin around the block begins Friday at the Aquafina Volleyball Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., where UCSB will face Missouri State at 7 a.m. PDT and Dayton at 2:30 p.m. A 12:30 p.m. date against the host school, No. 8 Florida, looms on Saturday.
Blackshire, the only senior on UCSB's 16-player roster, welcomes the challenge. She earned her second NCAA All-West Region award last year after her hitting percentage of .386 set a Gaucho record and ranked 18th nationally.
"Megan may be undersized, but she's probably the most competitive player out there," said Gregory. "When she plays, she plays with heart. She talks. She realizes that she's a focal point of the team, and she sets a good standard.
"She's very quick in transition, so when we get her involved offensively, she really helps the team. There's not a quicker player out there."
There are also few who are smarter. Blackshire, a law and society major, has won both Golden Eagle Scholar Athlete and Big West All-Academic honors.
"She has things in perspective," said Gregory. "She does her job in every part of her life, and that's why she's so good to have."
Blackshire plans to attend law school after UCSB, although it will require a quick transition on Oct. 1.
"I'm taking the LCATs that morning, and we're playing UC Irvine that night," she pointed out. "That's four hours of testing. I'll probably feel like getting all the stress out in the match."
Blackshire is the trigger to an imposing Gaucho front that includes a trio of 6-foot-3 towers: Junior Olivia Waldowski, who led the Big West Conference with 1.42 blocks per game; sophomore Bethany Johansen, who made the league's All-Freshman team after hitting .345; and rapidly improving sophomore Brett Quirarte, who has been a standout in preseason drills.
"Our experience is in the middle," said Gregory, who plans to take advantage with an occasional 6-2 offense, a new blocking scheme and a quicker attack.
Blackshire hopes it's enough for UCSB to surpass its Sweet 16 season of 2002. She is the only holdover from that squad.
"I had an amazing squad my freshman year," she said. "That team had two All-Americans (setter Brooke Niles, now an assistant coach, and middle blocker Danielle Bauer). And we had Courtney Guerra, too.
"I don't think we've ever been as intense as that year. This team could be as good, it's just a matter of what everyone gives to it."
Gregory is pulling out all the stops, which includes hiring Rick McLaughlin, a former head men's coach at Loyola Marymount, as a new assistant coach. One of McLaughlin's first chores was to install a new swing-blocking scheme to take advantage of UCSB's athleticism up front.
"We were No. 1 in the Big West for blocking last year -- but for as many walls as we have, as I like to call them, we could have better blocking," said Blackshire. "I think that swing blocking is going to make us much better.
"Basically, you take an approach to block instead of doing the regular three-step. The hitter thinks she sees a hole in the block, but it swings to close. It's a little harder for outside hitters to read because you don't know when the block is closing."
The emergence of sophomore Kayce Matthess has also convinced Gregory to occasionally use her with starting setter Ashley Dutro in a 6-2 (two-setter) alignment.
"When you look at the size of the top teams in the country like Nebraska and Stanford, it's very hard to counter-attack with the 5-1," she said. "Some of our bigger players such as Brett, Olivia, Megan and Bethany are also playing very well, so it would help me to have all of those 6-foot-3 players, and Megan, on the court all of the time.
"When you have three hitters on the front row, it's much easier to get a sideout because they can't gang up on just two players."
Dutro, a 5-7 sophomore, earned Big West All-Freshman honors last year while sharing the setting chores with graduated senior Mari Bell.
"Ashley is maturing as a setter," said Gregory. "She's running a quicker offense. We know how athletic and quick she is.
"Her ability to make correct decisions on which hitter is the right one to set, and on the good rhythm -- and she's been doing that very well in practice -- will be the big key."
She has a potent weapon on the outside with 5-10 junior Janine Sandell, who joined Blackshire on the NCAA All-Region team last year after averaging 4.28 kills per game. Her adjustment to a quicker attack may be crucial to UCSB's success.
"Janine usually likes a higher set," said Gregory. "But we're using a back-row BK set, which is a little bit lower. If we're in system, we can go a little bit quicker. If we're not, then they can call it."
Gregory has been most pleased with her other left-side hitter, junior Emily Hendrickson.
"She's come a long way," she said. "I really respect how hard she's worked all summer and how she's gone from starting last year, then to playing just back row, and now to becoming one of the integral parts of the team.
"She's going to be the main passer. I would have to say she's the best passer. The experience is in the middle, but the outsides are really going to be the bulls of the team. They're going to have to do so much for us."
The biggest hole to fill is at libero. Brittany San Jose, a freshman who has won junior national titles on both the indoor club and beach circuits, is being asked to replace honorable mention All-American Kristin Nelson.
"She's not as experienced, although she's getting better every day in practice," said Gregory. "I'm sure teams are going to go after her, and that's going to put a lot of pressure on a freshman. But I do have confidence that she's going to get better and better."
She also plans to make use of the strong jump-serve of junior Jamie Garbisch, who ranked sixth in the Big West last year with 0.38 aces per game. Highly recruited freshmen Jaimarie Sutherland and Lauren McLaughlin -- both of whom made PrepVolleyball.com's "Senior Aces" list -- will be backups at outside hitter through the early going.
UCSB will be the only team making its season debut in the Aquafina Invitational. Missouri State (2-1), Akron (2-0) and Florida (1-0) all opened up last weekend.
"I'm probably not pushing as hard in the beginning because I need us to pace ourselves," said Gregory. "The important thing is to just be improving."
