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In two years, the University of Maine volleyball team will be dominated by experience, boasting eight seniors, many of whom will have four years of playing time under their belts. That’s two years from now, though. Today, they’re sophomores on a club with three seniors, no juniors and just two freshmen.
That youth hasn’t hurt the Black Bears yet this season, as they’re off to a 2-0 start in America East action. True, they sit at just 4-11 overall after a brutal non-conference schedule to start the year, but the squad knows the showing against America East foes carries infinitely more meaning.
“The schools from the Big 10, like Cincinnati, they’re huge. It’s tough,” said senior Jody Connacher. “But it helps in a way, because you get to conference play and you say, ‘we really are good.’”
The Black Bears front line underwent a radical change at the start of the season. Lost to graduation were All-Conference honorees Shannan Fotter, Leah Guidinger and Kaili Jordon, one of the most formidable trios in America East over the last two seasons.
The large shoes they left behind, in part, led to a surprise for UMaine in the preseason coaches’ poll: a predicted finish of sixth out of seven teams.
“I don’t know if I was surprised because we did lose three amazing girls, but that’s not something that we’re worried about,” Connacher said. “It sort of makes things more fun.”
Yet UMaine sits in first place after the first week of conference action, the only 2-0 team in the league. The Black Bears look poised to make an unprecedented third straight postseason appearance, adding to the already impressive 20-8 conference record to which coach Lynn Atherley has guided them in her three seasons at the helm.
A large part of the Black Bears’ success has been the play of a number of sophomores, including 2005 All-Rookie selections Lindsay Allman and Amy Lawson. Classmates Brittany Kiehl and Jessica Wolfenden have also earned spots in the starting lineup and performed admirably.
Facilitating the transition is senior setter and team captain Shelly Seipp. The setter is akin to football’s quarterback, distributing the ball for hitters to try to score points. An All-Conference selection a year ago, Seipp admits that at first it was odd to see fresh faces instead of the familiar trio.
“It was different, for me, because I’d been setting for them all three years [of my career],” Seipp said. “These girls are getting better all the time. Everyday they’re getting more and more confident.”
Not surprisingly, Allman’s made the biggest impact, leading the team in kills with 157 and sitting just behind Connacher for the team lead in digs with 163. Kiehl has filled the role of middle blocker, recording a career-best seven blocks in last weekend’s sweep of Hartford, and Wolfenden has assumed the outside hitter spot and sits second on the team with 117 kills.
“In practice, I’m telling them to look at me and tell me when they want the ball. [During Sunday's match], they were telling me to set them the ball. They keep growing and growing,” said Seipp.
The Black Bears’ other sophomore starter is defensive specialist Ashlee Wright, who’s third on the team with 91 digs.
UMaine hits the road this weekend looking to expand on their conference success and build more confidence. First up is a visit to a spunky University of Maryland-Baltimore County club led by freshman sensation Ashley Oscars, who’s garnered conference rookie of the week honors four consecutive weeks. The Retrievers gave perennial power Albany all it could handle before falling 3-2 last week, and enter the match with a 1-1 America East record, 7-9 overall. The game tips off at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Bangor Daily News