Ken Roberts
For The New Era
Debbie Danielson’s first job in this, her first year as the Husky volleyball coach, will be to get to know her players and their talents.
Danielson, who was the Lebanon head coach for three years and has put in numerous seasons in club ball, returns to the Sweet Home program after having coached the freshmen for six years. She brings a new offensive scheme with her. Not only do the players have to learn her new system, but Danielson must learn her players’ strengths.
Right now, without the experienced pure power hitters, she understands that defense will be the name of their game.
“We will have to win a lot of our games on defense,” said Danielson. “Every ball has to be popped up to keep it in play.”
Half of the team’s 12-player roster has returning varsity experience, mostly at middle blocker, but even some of those players will be changing positions. within that team framework.
“We will play our strongest kids,” said Danielson, who doesn’t see any one or two particular star players yet. “They know that. I’ve told them that. They will have to know their roles and be willing to accept them.”
Then it is a matter of instilling confidence in the team.
“They have to believe they can do it before they can do it,” Danielson emphasized. “That takes a little while.”
Finally, Danielson expects the Huskies to keep focused and work hard every practice.
“It’s hard to get everyone to come in and give 100 percent every practice,” the coach noted. “But if we are going to play well, then we have to practice well.
And during those practices and pre-season games, Danielson will have to sort out which of the players can contribute the most and where.
The new coach is asking the Huskies to learn a number of new things.
“It’s fun to watch them think,” said Danielson. “It’s good for them to use their brains and not just go through the motions.
Danielson is not sure from where the leadership is going to come or who the captains will be. Though new setter Julie Burcham is only a junior, Danielson hopes Burcham will display enough leadership on the floor to lead the team into the offense. She knows that the leader must have quality character both on and off the court.
“If you can’t lead off the court, it’s hard to lead on the court,” she emphasized. “You have to have the team’s respect as well and the team must know they can go to them for things.?Finding that leader may be essential to this team gaining its confidence and accepting their team role.
Danielson is not sure which Capital Conference team will be the toughest, though
Stayton has four 6-footers. Cascade and Sisters have been prominent in the past, but Sisters is much shorter this year. North Marion and Molalla should be much more manageable.
In any case, defense and communication will be the focus. And for now, Danielson will use the pre-season as an evaluation period, searching for the right combination to move up into the top half of the league, something the Huskies have been unable to do in recent years.
Setters
Burcham takes over for Nicole Emmert, who filled that role for the past three years. Though Burcham has only JV experience and a new system to run, Danielson is pleased with the progress she has made.
Danielson feels that the setter needs to lead the team at least on the court.
With Burcham being the lone setter in the 5-1 offense Sweet Home will run, she must not only learn to make the right sets for the different plays, she must keep the team in tune. Danielson said she thinks Burcham will make this transition as quickly as she has learned the offense, even though she is quiet by nature.
Within the opening weeks, Burcham has become quicker in transition and smarter in reading and knowing her own players as well as where the defensive blockers are.
Breanne Messmer and Sam Pierce could help as setters if needed.
Hitters
Part of Danielson’s offensive scheme is to go to the most powerful or hottest hitter for any given game. Having someone develop into that role is her main task. They don’t have the tall hitter that can drive the ball straight down, so they will work on smart placement.
Right now, the outside hitters will be junior Sara Brocard, who has limited varsity experience, and Jessalyn Seiber, a sophomore just recently called up from the JV team. Danielson hopes that their consistency will improve as they go through the pre-season.
Leading the right side hitters is senior Chelsea Gagner, a vocal leader, who is moving over from her normal middle blocker spot that she has played for two years at the varsity level. She has come on strong since the team camp and is able to hit down the lines well. Pierce, a senior with only JV experience, is the other right side hitter and impressed Danielson early on with her play.
Messmer and veteran senior Dani Thireault will probably see some duty as hitters as well as defensive specialists as they serve as the utility players. Messmer, who has been slowed by an ankle injury, is the most likely to help out at the outside slot.
Middle Blockers
This could be the Huskies? strong suit. At 5-10, senior Ashlee Flanagan has the long arms that put her above the net before she starts her jump and has a passion for the art of blocking. Both she and senior Cait Thireault have solid varsity experience at that position.
Thireault is shorter but has great quickness and a knack for timing the blocks. To simplify things down, Danielson will have both of the blockers defending just the middle and outside hitters unless their opponent has a strong right side hitter.
Offensively, Flanagan brings the most power of all the hitters while Thireault has the best leaping ability and could run the flare options.
Defensive Specialists
The Huskies have two returning specialists, junior Michelle Cliver and senior Hannah Swanson, though Swanson must switch back to that role after playing considerably as a front row hitter last year.
Cliver is sound in all aspects of this role, being quick and sound fundamentally. She also has a high level knowledge of the position, knowing when to do run-throughs and reading the court situation. Most importantly, she is a strong communicator and should help the Huskies with that facet of the game.
Expect Cliver and Swanson both to hit some out of the back row, especially if the passes aren’t lofted to the front row. Swanson?s athleticism is her strongest suit.
She doesn’t mind hitting the floor to retrieve a ball with a hand pancake. She could do some front row work since, despite being shorter than most hitters, she has a tremendous jump reach.
Erica Snow brings energy to this position. Though she has only JV experience, she has shown consistent improvement early in the season. Again, either Messmer or Dani Thireault could get some time as specialists as well.
At this point in the season, Danielson does not expect to use a libero. Some of the defensive specialists are also the team?s best servers and she doesn’t want to relinquish that part of their game.
Serving
In practice, the Huskies have been working on serving to tough areas, which has dropped their percentage somewhat. Just who will serve during games, like the rotation, will be decided after pre-season performances. Right now, Cliver, Swanson, and Brocard have shown either the most consistency or the toughest serves to handle. Strategically, Sweet Home is working on several ideas to improve their serving prowess: jump serving, topspin serves, and delayed five-second serves to keep opposing defenses off balance.
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Date Team Opponent Site Time
9/10 Var SH Tourn. Home 9 a.m.
9/13 V/JV/F Philomath Home 5 p.m.
9/15 V/JV/F Toledo Away 4:30 p.m.
9/17 V Scappoose Tour. Away 9 a.m.
9/20 JV/F J. City Tourn. Away 9 a.m.
9/22 V/JV/F Newport Away 4:30 p.m.
9/24 V Sisters Tour. Away 9 a.m
9/24 JV Sweet Home Tour. Home 9 a.m.
9/27 V/JV/F Sisters Away 5 p.m.
9/29 V/JV/F Cascade Home 5 p.m.
10/4 V/JV/F North Marion Home 5 p.m.
10/6 V/JV/F Molalla Away 5 p.m.
10/8 V/JV Newport Tourn. Away 9 a.m.
10/10 V/JV/F Stayton Home 5 p.m.
10/12 V/JV/F Sisters Home 5 p.m.
10/15 F Sweet Home Tour. Home 9 a.m.
10/18 V/JV/F Cascade Away 5 p.m.
10/20 V/JV/F North Marion Away 5 p.m.
10/25 V/JV/F Molalla Home 5 p.m.
10/27 V/JV/F Stayton Away 5 p.m.