After an opening tournament at Washington State, the Idaho volleyball team continues its spring season with a home tournament Saturday in Memorial gym.
Zach Edwards | Argonaut Alyssa Schultz, sophomore middle blocker, attempts a kill during a match against Central Washington at the Washington State Spring Tournament Saturday in Pullman. Idaho will host their own spring tournament in Memorial Gym April 14.
Last week the Vandals competed in a scrimmage-type format at Washington State where they played the host Cougars, Seattle, Eastern Washington, Central Washington, Montana State and Boise State. The matches consisted of two sets each.
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said she was happy with her team’s performance overall.
“It’s a good start, but I don’t think we’re where we need to be,” Buchanan said. “We did some good things. Out passing was a lot better than what it has been. Offensively we did some good things and I think we had three solid matches, then took a break and when we came back I thought we were a little more sluggish.”
While the purpose of the tournament is just for experience and improvement purposes, Idaho’s Julia Church said it was good to play real volleyball after weeks of practice.
“We had a blast playing against other people,” Church said. “We are super competitive, even playing against each other, so we were ready for different teams, different things to look at and we had a lot of fun.”
The Vandals bring back a lot of experience on this year’s roster and Buchanan said she was happy with their performance, but the spring also gives the opportunity for younger players to get experience and move up the depth chart.
Church said she was impressed with the way younger players performed.
“I think they stepped up and really showed themselves out there on the floor,” Church said. “I thought they did a really great job.”
Without the three seniors from last year’s roster on the floor, an adjustment must be made. Setter Jennifer Feicht said it was good to play with newer teammates and improve as a team.
“I think we did a really good job at getting all our players experience and working together,” Feicht said. “We did a good job, especially in our serving. That’s something we struggled with in the fall and we did a lot better with that in this spring tournament.”
Senior Cassie Hamilton left a vacant spot at the libero position, and Buchanan said Janelle Chow made a good case for the spot with her performance during the weekend.
“Janelle Chow did a great job in the libero position,” Buchanan said. “She kept us in a lot of plays and passed at a very high level for the weekend.”
Buchanan said the focus for Idaho’s home tournament is not wins and losses, but improvement and experience.
Matches will run all day with a number of teams that include Washington State, Gonzaga and Eastern Washington.
“For our first weekend I thought out team did some great things,” Buchanan said. “I think that we have already made great strides this weekend and I am looking forward to another opportunity to compete.”
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]