With an entirely new coaching staff and six departed seniors, it is not surprising that a major motif of Marquette volleyball’s offseason was competition.
“We had competition for every spot on the floor, which is something we haven’t had the past two seasons I’ve been here,” redshirt sophomore middle hitter Meghan Niemann said. “That is really fun. It creates a really competitive environment in the gym.”
Still, the magnitude of the competition, with virtually no starting spots or supporting roles determined just days before the start of the regular season, is astounding.
Position Battles
At the team’s open scrimmage Saturday, new coach Ryan Theis, hired from Ohio University last spring, rotated almost every player onto the first team’s side of the court at some point. Notably, two positions that have seen virtually no competition in recent years, setter and libero, seem wide open heading into the first weekend.
In recent years, Marquette has benefitted from consistent All-American level performances at setter from Nikki Klingsporn, Chelsea Heier and Elizabeth Koberstein. For the first time in recent memory, the setter spot is up for grabs, with redshirt sophomore Mary Nilles and true freshman Gabby Benda fighting for the starting job.
“It’s definitely different because we were used to Bisky’s sets,” sophomore outside hitter Autumn Bailey said. “These two setters are battling it out and doing really well.”
Both Nilles and Benda saw time with the first team at the scrimmage, with Nilles playing on that side slightly more. Nilles’ experience and leadership should give her the edge to start the year.
The libero spot has also seen zero competition the past few seasons. 2012 and 2013 captain Julie Jeziorowski wore the yellow jersey in every game of her four-year career, and Theis has yet to name her successor.
In the scrimmage, sophomore Ellie Rauch and sophomore transfer Ellen Hays played libero for the first team, while sophomore Lauren Houg logged minutes on the other side of the net. Either Hays or Rauch will likely get the nod, with the other serving as the team’s primary defensive specialist.
“Those positions have been really competitive throughout the preseason,” Theis said of setter and libero. “I don’t know that we have a final answer to that, and I don’t know that we’ll have one way we’ll go all year.”
Theis did say that if one player struggles, he would not be afraid to make a change mid-game.
“We have confidence in anybody that if someone’s having a bad day, we’ll insert somebody else.”
Bailey picked as preseason POY
The Big East volleyball coaches named three Marquette players to the preseason all-Big East first team. Bailey was tabbed preseason player of the year, while Niemann and senior right side hitter Lindsey Gosh were selected to the team.
“It’s obviously an expectation and I want to perform well this season,” Bailey said. “I’m just going to build on what I did last season.”
While she would love to live up to those expectations, Bailey’s main goal is for Marquette to repeat as Big East champions.
“It would be great to win player of the year,” she said. “That’s not what’s on my mind when I’m playing, but that would be awesome.”
Theis doesn’t think of Bailey as a superstar. He feels she plays a primary role in his team full of point scorers.
“I don’t do the whole star player thing,” Theis said. “It’s a team sport. Obviously, the ability to score points is valuable, but everybody needs to be doing their role for us to score points.”
Unfortunately, that valuable piece has not practiced with the team for the entirety of the preseason. Bailey strained her abdominal muscle and Marquette will need her to recover quickly to play at its best. Bailey sat the scrimmage out, but expects to play on opening weekend.
“It’s nothing serious,” she said. “It’s just an ab strain. I don’t want to hurt it any more than it’s been hurt.”
New coaches
Replacing Bond Shymansky will be no easy task, but so far, Theis and his two assistants, Erich Hinterstocker and Meghan Keck, look up to the task.
“He’s always stressing everything we do,” Niemann said of Theis. “Whether it be in the community, in the classroom or on the court, we want to be great at it. That really shows up in our play, because we want to be great at every skill on the floor.”
Bailey said the transition from Shymansky to Theis has been a positive one.
“They have a different system and have different coaching styles than our old coach and what we were used to,” Bailey said. “It’s been an adjustment but it’s been a good adjustment.”
Theis characterized his coaching style as even-keeled.
“My normal personality is not too many highs and not too many lows,” he said. “I’ve found that it suits me well to be calm and go to them with educational pieces and hope that they execute that.”
Squad Depth
With Bailey, Gosh and Niemann playing big roles for the Golden Eagles, it remains to be seen who will join them in the starting lineup.
On the outside, Bailey and sophomore Nele Barber will join Gosh as full rotation players, factoring in along the backline as well as upfront. Junior Erin Lehman will also see time, primarily as a conventional outside hitter. Freshman Taylor Louis may redshirt due to knee problems.
“There’s been a ton of competition this year on the outside already with Erin, Nele and myself,” Bailey said. “We’re going to be strong from the outside this year, like last year.”
In the middle, Niemann heads up a group with just three seasons of combined Marquette experience. The Golden Eagles return redshirt sophomore Jackie Kocken and sophomore Teal Schnurr and add Northern Iowa transfer Courtney Kintzel and her two years of eligibility remaining. True freshman Jenna Rosenthal will likely redshirt unless injuries force her into the lineup.
“As a unit, we’ve gotten so much better and I’m confident that whatever two end up being on the floor are going to do a great job,” Niemann said.
Along the backline, Rauch and Hays figure to play the most, with Houg seeing some minutes here and there and redshirt freshman Nicki Barnes seeing occasional time.
“They’ve had a terrific preseason just battling, competing,” Theis said of the backline. “They’re fighting for playing time.”
Outlook
Marquette was picked second in the preseason Big East coaches poll and received votes in the season’s first AVCA top 25. Only No. 24 Creighton was picked ahead of the Golden Eagles in the conference standings.
For Theis, the team’s goals are simple: compete for the Big East title, make a run in the NCAA tournament and play their best volleyball at the end of the season.
“They want to be good,” he said. “If you just explain to them what it takes to be good, I think they’ll be willing to do it.”
