Volleyball Preview: Outside Hitters
Coach Cook's Thoughts On The 2020-21 Dawgs
1/18/2021
Samantha Drechsel
Senior
2019 Key Stats: 2.90 kills/set | .244 Att %
"Sam has been preparing to expand her role since the end of last season. We may ask her to contribute in new ways and to carry a larger load than ever before. She has the ability and has worked to build the durability necessary to affect the game in every phase.
“It’s similar from when Kara made that jump from a three-rotation outside to a six-rotation player. It’s just a matter of how much do we load her up? And how much can we do within our system? We want to build a lot of things around Sam. To have that kind of load night in and night out, it’s always a challenge but she’s hitting with a lot more control and power to everywhere.”
Maria Bogomolova
Senior
2019 Key Stats: 0.24 aces/set | .382 Att %
"She didn’t get back to us until really late in the fall. Getting her back from Russia was a feat of diplomacy between Russia and the United States. Then when she got here she had to quarantine. She spent all winter break just working out and trying to prepare herself. Her presence in the gym is something that stands out to me. So she’s very vocal and she’s very passionate. Her commitment to this program is evident. She takes nothing for granted and loves this University and takes pride in the Washington way. She spent the entirety of winter break away from her family to regain her strength. She’s a spark anywhere we ask her to play."
Claire Hoffman
Junior
2019 Key Stats: 2.48 kills/set | 1.53 digs/set
“Claire, in our biggest wins, she completed the puzzle. She was the other scorer on the left with Kara. She’s always been a glue player, someone who makes us better in so many different phases of the game.
"She’s had to battle some significant, long-term injuries. Her ab injury last year was significant and really one of those what-ifs, if she hadn’t gone through that, but she’s healthy and she’s tested and someone we have a lot of trust in. But we need her to score the ball and we’ll need her to take on a larger role in the second half of her career.”
Shannon Crenshaw
Junior
2019 Key Stats: 0.81 kills/set | 1.87 digs/set
"Easily one of the most improved players since the last season ended. Just steadily working and steadily getting stronger. Shannon’s maturity and discipline have always impressed me. As a high school athlete, she behaved like a college athlete. As a college athlete, she behaves like a professional athlete. We’ve just been waiting, she’s doing everything right, when is she going to get a return? And that return has finally come. She’s passing the ball at a high level, serving the ball at a higher level, attacking, every part of her game is better. It doesn’t always work like that where you take a step forward cause you’re a year older, but Shannon has, and her best contributions are ahead of her.”
Dani Cole
Sophomore
2019 Key Stats: 10 kills in 15 sets
"Dani played outside hitter against Colorado and showed some flashes of being able to score over there in a way that no one else could. So we ran with that and she spent most of her time last year hitting on the left, with the idea being that she could give us a different level of offense. The challenge for someone working through that position is how do you manage out of system plays? If she can grab on to that piece and take some less than ideal plays and turn them into something positive, then we’ve got something.
"I’m looking forward to her making the most of the opportunities we find for her."
Madi Endsley
Freshman
“You think you know how a kid’s going to be when they arrive because you watch them so much in the recruiting process. We’ve had a number of outside hitters like her before from really competitive club programs who have been in the spotlight, and you always ask yourself how coachable are they going to be? How willing are they going to be to make changes? Because they’ve got pretty far doing it their way. And it’s just been impressive to see her willingness to start form the ground up, with no hesitation, day after day. You’re talking to her, she’s listening; you’re asking her to do something, she’s trying. It’s not that easy when you’re a player of that caliber who’s been in many big situations, so she’s doing a great job.
"Her net play is way farther along than most players. We knew she’d be able to score in a variety of ways, but she’s been a little better as a blocker than we expected. Then it’s just adding on a little more responsibility as a passer and defender, so how much we put on her we’ll see, we’ll build it up.”
Emoni Bush
Freshman (Will redshirt due to enrolling early)
"Emoni Bush, although not eligible to compete until fall 2021, wasted no time making an impact in our first few days of training. It’s no small task to join our program mid-year let alone in the middle of a pandemic. Emoni will be better for it and enter her freshman year with an experience few get."
