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Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

New rotations bring adjustments to MU’s hitting line

Junior middle hitter Carol Henney said the Golden Eagle's potential is present and the spring season will help the team work on skills. Tribune File Photo

Expected growing pains at the outside position were evident in Marquette’s five-set home loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Thursday. But there were stretches of promise that have the Golden Eagles hopeful that chemistry will continue to improve throughout the spring season.

The Golden Eagles took the first two sets but struggled the rest of the night due to a combination of inexperience and players seeing time at new positions.

“We have been playing really hard in practices, and spring is a time to get after it. But we know what we have to work on,” junior middle hitter Carol Henney said. “We definitely have so much potential, and we just have to get it out of ourselves.”

One player who impressed was sophomore outside hitter Casey Read, who finished with a team-high 13 kills.

Through two sets, Read racked up six kills and three blocks. Like the rest of the team, she showed fatigue late in the match as Marquette struggled to find an offensive rhythm. Shymansky said he was impressed with her continued improvement.

“She’s going to get a lot of reps in the spring,” Shymansky said. “And we have to do what we can to find out where her limitations are, where her strengths are and really find out how we can capitalize on her skill set.”

Read only saw action in eight matches last fall, playing behind senior team leaders Ashley Beyer and Ciara Jones on the outside.

Shymansky said some of Read’s tendencies remind him of Beyer, specifically her vertical leap and powerful swing.

Next year, however, Read will be asked to fill the shoes of two of the program’s most successful outside hitters. But she said the examples set by both teammates taught her how to play and will have her ready to succeed in a larger role.

“She wanted to win all the time, and that was evident in games and practices,” Read said of Beyer. “And now it’s up to me to adapt to that attitude because, in the past, I’ve been more of a calm, quiet confident player. But now I have to be bolder as a player, and I have to pick up my game.”

Junior Middle hitter Kelsey Mattai and freshman right side Lindsey Gosh have also seen time on the outside as Shymansky attempts to complete his rotation.

“The spring is certainly a time of growth in a lot of ways, and you want young players and new players in different positions to get a lot of reps and experience,” Shymansky said. “And some of that experience is going to be failure as much as it’s going to be success.”

The Golden Eagles’ potential was evident through the first two sets Thursday night, but the next two weeks to close out the spring season will test the team’s ability to not lose focus down the stretch as new players step into new roles.

“We want to make it a learning time for our group,” Shymansky said. “We’ll spend time watching videos and work on individual technique, but overall we have to have that competitive desire.”

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