Season Preview: Outside Hitters

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The 2018 NCAA Volleyball season kicks off this week around the country and this Friday in Seattle, as the Huskies open their campaign with two straight matches against 14th-ranked San Diego. Single-game tickets are available for purchase now. GoHuskies.com will take a look at the four positions leading up to the season opener, starting with the middle blockers, continuing with the liberos, followed by the setters, and wrapping up today with the outside hitters.

SEATTLE – Washington's corps of outside hitters runs the full gamut in terms of age, experience, hometown proximity to Seattle, you name it. But one thing they all have in common is the ability to bash the ball and score points, quite an important skill to have for any aspiring tourney team. But that is far from the only job requirement, and whomever takes the court out of the seven Husky pin hitters will be looking at either a brand new or greatly expanded role.

Shoes are left waiting to be filled after the graduation of four of the most productive hitters in school history last year. Courtney Schwan, Crissy Jones, and Tia Scambray rarely left the court in combining for over 3,000 career kills, and Carly DeHoog had a breakthrough senior season to earn her first All-America honor. But aside from the kills, it's the steady digging and passing, the disruptive serving and blocking presence that the young group will aspire to match.

The one senior on the roster, and a player that always is willing to embrace any role, is Destiny Julye. Head Coach Keegan Cook has repeated an unofficial motto to the five Husky freshmen: "Do as Destiny does."

"That just relates to how she carries herself as a student-athlete," Cook says. "In every part of her day she's consistent and outstanding. Her concern for her teammates, her work ethic, her performance in school—really impressive."

The native of Tehachapi, California has long possessed one of the best arms in the Pac-12, but she's made her biggest contribution the past two years at the service line, developing an excellent float serve. Meanwhile, the rest of her game has continued to improve, as evidenced by her All-Pac-12 Team honors in beach volleyball the past two years.

Julye has always had the potential to score the ball, says Cook, but now in her last year, "we're trying to get her in this role where she can do what she's best at in terms of hitting and blocking. She had an outstanding beach season, and she's improved quite a bit as a defender."

By the end of 2017, Kara Bajema was coming into her own as an attacker, posting the only three 20-plus kill totals on the squad late in the season and winding up as the team leader in kills per set. Opposing coaches took notice, naming Bajema to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team. Now entering the second half of her college career, Bajema has been motivated to pick up where she left off while expanding her arsenal on defense and at the service line.

"Kara was playing her best at the end of the season and was looking forward to playing for a few more weeks," says Cook. "I really like what I've seen from her in terms of her back row play, both her serve-receive and her defense, as well as her serving."

In addition to hammering the perfect sets, Bajema has worked to better manage out of system swings.

"Her role has expanded significantly, and instead of just hitting sets that come off perfect passes now she's having to manage tough sets and play the entire game," Cook says. "I don't think people really understand how much of an increased workload that is, but she's doing a great job. She's having great days and some days where it's kind of painful, but her approach in practice has improved significantly."

95298 — **Senior Destiny Julye has appeared in 93 matches for the Dawgs and scored 320.0 career points.**

The only other returner in the group is Maria Bogomolova from Russia, though she has yet to see the court following a redshirt season and a 2017 hampered by a concussion. But she's back training every day and is another aggressive attacker that gives UW options on the right side.

"I really like the progress she's made as a server and as an attacker," says Cook. "She's a player who can help us in a double-sub situation as an opposite. I think she can score points, she's going to swing for it, and I'm looking forward to helping her develop as a blocker so that she can impact the game on both sides of the ball, and see if we can't find some roles for her to contribute because she can score it and you're always going to need that at some point."

The ranks of hitters are swelled by four newcomers, Maryland transfer but Woodinville, Wash. native Samantha Drechsel, now a sophomore, and true freshmen Dani Cole, Shannon Crenshaw, and Claire Hoffman, all highly rated among the 2018 graduating class.

Drechsel came back home in the spring and played on the Husky beach team this year and got an indoor spring season under her belt as well. Last year for the Terps, she played 109 sets at opposite, averaging 1.94 kills per set in the challenging Big Ten conference. She came in with a reputation as a heavy hitter, but Cook has been pleasantly surprised by other aspects of Drechsel's game.

"We had a sense that she could do a little bit more than maybe she was asked to do in her first year," says Cook. "So now we're working through that process of where's the best place to put her, and how much serve-receive responsibility does she have as opposed to just scoring the ball? Early indications are she's capable of scoring on both sides. She also developed a really good serve this offseason. I don't even think she's anywhere near her potential, sometimes I forget she's just a second year player, and we're certainly thankful she's back home."

Cole, Crenshaw, and Hoffman, along with setter Ella May Powell and middle Marin Grote are a class that Cook won't deny he has high expectations for, but that comes with some necessary patience. "It's a really important class for us. It's a class we believe is going to get us back to the Final Four one day, and so we're being really careful about how much we ask them to do and when. We've only had a few weeks to evaluate them, and they're probably a little farther along than I expected in some places. We want to take a little time to figure out where they fit in relative to their peers, but we certainly won't hesitate to give them some opportunities if we feel like they can help us win."

Cole, from Leander, Texas, is "the point scoring opposite that we've been trying to recruit for a long time," says Cook. "An outstanding athlete. Early in her first two weeks was able to hit the ball over a pretty big block. We've certainly thrown a lot at her, she's mostly been a right side hitter, we've asked her to hit on the left some as well as taught her a new blocking system. So she's working through all that but we're certainly going to be evaluating her because her potential to be an All-American caliber opposite is there."

Coming all the way from Longwood, Florida, Crenshaw had the most high-level club experience, leading her team to the 18-open title at USAV Junior Nationals this year. "Shannon had an outstanding senior year with her club team, and is very skilled as a receiver and as a defender. She is knocking on the door for some opportunities early in a number of roles, as an attacker and as a player who can control the back court for us," says Cook.

Last but not least is Hoffman, who Cook calls "probably the biggest surprise of this training camp." From Pleasant Hill, Ore. just southeast of Eugene, the 6-2 Hoffman "really jumped on everyone when she came in," Cook says. "As a receiver much stronger than we anticipated. As an attacker has much more range than maybe we realized. We weren't sure how big of a jump the level of play was going to be for her, but she surprised us all and has really done some good things. Again, a player that I think is going to be one of those six-rotation outsides that's going to carry us for years, and so we're being pretty careful with her workload early on and her health."

With so many options, expect roles to shift and expand throughout the season, and how quickly the young hitters can adjust will tell a big part of the Washington story in 2018.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Kara Bajema

Maria Bogomolova

Dani Cole

Shannon Crenshaw

Carly DeHoog

Samantha Drechsel

Marin Grote

Claire Hoffman

Crissy Jones

Destiny Julye

Ella May Powell

Tia Scambray

Courtney Schwan

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