2018 SFA Senior Tributes

For each of the last three seasons, I have ended the year with a post summarizing my recollections about some of the conferences' most memorable seniors.  This is the fourth year of jotting down these senior tributes, but in 2018 I am going to separate the SFA seniors from those from around the league.  This season was particularly special to SFA Volleyball and so there will be two "senior tribute" posts this December; this first one dedicated to our four seniors that led our club so well during the year.  Later in the week, we will go around the league for stories and memories associated with various players that I crossed paths with during their Southland seasons.

For now, enjoy these four SFA senior tributes.  Before beginning, I should also give a huge shout out to each of these four ladies' families.  Behind every one of these athletes are parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and extended family that have been so supportive to both myself and the team.  Your dedication to your special athlete on this list and your friendship to me is not overlooked.  Thanks to each of you for all of the conversations and encouragement.

Haley Coleman

There were years when in my boldness I would ask head coach Debbie Humphreys when the next big scoring left-side attacker was going to show up on campus.  Many a good volleyball club of years gone by had dominating middles ,right-side attackers and nimble liberos, but when 2015 rolled around, Haley Coleman was suggested as being the silencer of my concerns.  I read her high school bio.  'Decorated and surely skilled', I thought, but 5'9"?  This is our left-side go-to hitter?  Then, I saw her in practice as a freshman.  Specifically, I saw her jump.  What an athlete.  I have known fewer disciplined players than Haley Coleman during my years of association with Ladyjack Volleyball.  You can read the outgoing bio like I read the high school one.  Sure, sure, you'll find all the accolades: conference honors, player of the week, academic awards, etc.  They piled up like laundry on a freshman's dorm room floor.  Her last two years at SFA, she was consistently seen as one of the top two or three outside hitters in the Southland Conference.  But, what you won't see in the box scores and online articles like this one is character.  Class.  Dare I even suggest, elegance.  Haley Coleman plays an elegant style of volleyball and her character also reflects this rather unique refined and subtle trait.  She holds herself to a high standard and the results have followed.

Haley Coleman is one of the best outside hitters our program has seen over the last decade.  She finishes with over 1000 career points, 2.16 kills per set, 919 kills, 1147 digs (2.70 digs/set) and 96 aces.  I had the personal good fortune of having Coleman in a summer class.  She was one of the very best students I taught that entire academic year.  One story I'll never forget about Haley took place on the road at UIW during her sophomore year.  I went back and looked it up.  Abby McIntyre went bananas that day and had 17 kills, but Coleman chipped in 15 digs, so I thought I'd go interview Haley for post-match comments.  My six questions elicited about a dozen total words with three or four answers being of the "Yep" or "Sure" variety.  The interview was over and she ran to the bus and I was left staring at my recorder telling me that I had a 1 minute 14 second interview to go post.  I realized later on that it wasn't that she was aloof, but rather that she genuinely didn't focus on how good she was.  She didn't get excited to talk about herself like almost all of the rest of the human race does.  Somewhere along the way, Coleman mastered this steady, anchored personality that served her so well on the court for four years.

Coleman recently applied for physical therapy school and I graciously accepted the request to write her a recommendation.  At her senior day, she skirted up beside me at one point and with the smile of someone much younger than her age announced that she had been accepted.  It was a short communication of an accomplishment that wasn't coupled with a long conversation following.  It was simple and filled with a genuine spirit.  That's Haley Coleman.  Gosh, am I glad I got to watch her play. She leaves SFA having made quite the impression on me and most everyone else she came in contact with.

2018 Coleman & Redmond Senior Interview
Coleman After a Win versus Northwestern State in 2017

Peyton Redmond

Near the end of the 2018 season more and more people would ask me (including Karch Kiraly!) what I thought was different about this team versus those of recent years.  Why was it that this team was able to have such success?  My standard answer in November became "Peyton Redmond".  I'm just going to lay it out there:  SFA doesn't win the Southland Conference Tournament and doesn't play in the NCAA's unless Redmond has the 2018 season that she did.  I told her this several times down the stretch and it wasn't just a "rah-rah speech".  I honestly believe this.  Look, I think everyone understood that our highlight reel players were Daron, Coleman and Hollas.  Makenzee Hanna and Anyia Williams also had matches that made your head spin.  But, take Peyton Redmond out of the equation and I just don't see this team as 32-3.

Across the board, Redmond's numbers spiked in her senior season.  Her 280 kills were a career high, as were her 782 attacks, 26 aces and 43 blocks.  One of the best passers in serve receive the team has had over the last few years, I always felt as though if the libero position ever went in the tank (thankfully, it hasn't for some time now), Redmond could handle playing there.  Shoot, I wasn't even convinced Redmond would hold down her starting spot when 2018 began.  Her junior year numbers took a step back from 2016 when she arrived on campus and dug up over 300 balls.  You can go back and read my early articles mentioning  how nice it will be to have someone this good coming off the bench if needed.  Yeah, so that's NOT what happened.  Redmond was really impressive and due to the nomination process for all-conference honors, she got lost in the shuffle of all of our other great contributors.  To me, Redmond deserves an honorable mention for her "glue piece "role on this 2018 squad.

Redmond was anything but overconfident.  Many times she'd play down the praise I'd give her.  A few times she'd even go so far as to say that she "needed to hear" the positive comments I, or others, would throw her after a match.  There was always a tinge of hesitance in her voice about her contributions, and I would always walk away thinking she didn't realize how important she was.  Peyton Redmond was VERY important.  Her steadiness blew me away at times.  You may not have noticed, but Redmond lingered on the edge of the Southland Top 20 in both kills per set and digs per set the entire season.  You could literally count on one hand the number of outside hitters for which that was true in our conference.  In three years, she amassed 738 digs (which is equivalent to just shy of 1000 for a four year extrapolation) and 517 kills.  Her final dig per set number checks in at 2.49 d/s.

I'm a huge fan of all of our players, but I have to admit:  Peyton Redmond was probably my favorite Ladyjack of 2018.

2018 Redmond & Coleman Senior Interview
Redmond at End of 2017 Regular Season

Makenzee Hanna

Over her final two seasons in Ladyjack purple, Hanna averaged right at 300 points per year, hit .308 and put up .99 blocks per set (230 blocks in 232 sets). Wow.  During 2018, she led all right-sides in the Southland Conference in blocks per set and when coupled with our middle blockers, I have no idea why anyone would try and hit through, around or against that double-team.  Makenzee is one of those players that just had a moment in her career where things just clicked.  To me, that was half way through her tenure at SFA.  She got to play more her junior season and she was ready, putting up a career high 116 blocks.  Going in to 2018, there was little question Hanna was going to be an instrumental centerpiece to the club.  I can't tell you how many times this season I would be conversing with opposing coaches about defending our offense and they would begin to talk about our middles, or Coleman and then say "Oh, and then you have worry about Hanna on the right, too".  Their face would always sulk as if it was too much to worry with.  It was like planning to defend her was a wrench in whatever plan the opposition would come up with. 

Makenzee made this offense complete - as in completely dominant.   A lot of good offenses have a primary left-side scorer and a threat in the middle, but Hanna gave us an option all the way across the net.  A highly efficient option.  Go back and look at those cumulative stats over the last two years.  In 232 upperclassman sets, Hanna committed only 110 errors.  That's not even a rate of an error every TWO SETS!  Incredible.  No, that's just flat out ridiculous. How would you like to be preparing to defend first-team all conference studs Haley Coleman and Danae Daron and then get struck with the problem of having to contain an attacker that you can force into an error roughly once every two sets?

Of course, it's not just the Mak Attack on offense.  Her defense was consistently steady across all four years on the court.  She finishes her career with 345 blocks (.92 blocks/set) while splitting time in the middle and on the right.  That final tally falls just shy of cracking the Top 10 all-time at SFA (Kristy Rhodes, 387). The same is true with her blocks per set numbers as well.

One of the things that really got me thinking about how dedicated Makenzee Hanna was to both athletics and academics is the story of her commute to Grace Preparatory Academy from DeSoto during her later high school years. Grace Prep is in south Arlington, a good 25 miles away from where Hanna lived.  The high school used the college scheduling model for courses and so some days Hanna would shuttle back and forth from DeSoto to Arlington and other days, Hanna would be at home studying.  The overall family commitment to make such a structure work was always impressive to me.  I've mentioned it before in other articles, but another thing I will always remember about Mak is her awareness of others around her.  Many days the first 'hello' I would hear when walking into the gym - at home or on the road - was from Mak. Some people are self-absorbed.  Other people - like Makenzee Hanna - have a sense that teamwork extends beyond the jersey.  Sure, players and coaches earn the wins and trophies, but I always felt appreciated by Makenzee and I'll treasure that and use it to spur me on when feeling marginalized.  Makenzee has the gift of making others feel important.

Oh, and that foot kill... who could ever forget that SportsCenter Top 10 foot kill?  Epic.

2018 Hanna Senior Interview
Hanna After 'Jacks Win 2018 SLC Tournament

McKenzie Brewer

Alright, I'm not going to write this one the way you think I might.  Here's what I believe:  I think a lot of people in her shoes would have walked away.  People that are not close to collegiate athletes have no idea - I mean, NO IDEA, how much time, effort and dedication it takes to play sports at this level.  They don't think about the endless workouts, the off-season training, the bus rides, the nights returning to campus at 3 AM, the weight room sessions before dawn and the list goes on and on.  So, when a backup setter doesn't get in to even half of her teams' sets during the first two years of all that, what would be the natural thing to think? It is worth it?  Should I keep doing this?  Why am I even here?  Do I still love this game enough to subject myself to this?  Now, I don't know - maybe, McKenzie Brewer never ask herself even one of those questions during her time at SFA, but I wouldn't fault her one moment if she did.  Being a setter is tough.  Being a setter at SFA is particularly tough.

But, how about this story, huh?  Setter relegated to backup duty finishes career with 1225 assists and co-directs an offense that goes 32-3 and plays in the NCAA tournament?  Talk about a senior memory!  Of all the senior profiles, Brew's is the one I hope all the incoming freshman familiarize themselves with.  THIS is why you stick things out and persevere.  So you can have half the chance to tell all the stories that Brewer gets to tell for the rest of her life.  Sure, Ann Hollas won Setter of the Year, and she deserved it.  But in reality, isn't that award also a trickle down accolade for Brewer?  Part of what made Hollas so unique in 2018 was her total contribution:  assists, kills, digs.  But, who is making some of that possible?  Brewer.

Why are 5-1 offenses more prevalent than 6-2's?  Because you need more people to be effective to run a two setter offense.  There is more to go wrong - more moving parts, more to juggle.  You know how many times I  heard anyone discuss shifting our scheme back to a 5-1 during this season?  How about zero. Oh,  there were occasional days where one of the setters was off and it crossed coaches, fans and my own minds', but in terms of seriously contemplating a definitive structural switch?  It didn't happen.  Brewer gets a TON of credit for the 2018 team success and her leadership was instrumental in our run to the postseason.

Sure, everyone will remember Brew for her humor and laugh.  Teams NEED players like McKenzie Brewer.  Not just as leaders, but as the person who can take the edge off the stress at appropriate moments.  Oh, and how about that serve?  Didn't it seem like every one of Brewer's career 58 aces came at just the right time?  Those two aces against Texas early in Sets 1 and 2 still play over and over in my mind.  So will the career high five-ace match against HBU in the second round of the SLC Tournament.  Check out this stat:  Brewer put up an ace in each of her last 6 career matches and had at least one in nine of her last ten contests.  In the postseason this year, she averaged .85 aces per set.  By way of comparison, half of that rate would easily lead the Southland Conference for the year.

It's one thing to push through the difficulties of being a NCAA D1 athlete when your face is on the schedule card or name is on the leaderboard.  It's another thing to bide your time waiting for your moment to shine - especially when that takes years.  Wear that ring proudly, Brew.  You got the last laugh.

2018 Brewer Senior Interview
Brewer After 1000th Career Assist at SLU

2018 Senior Interviews: Haley Coleman and Peyton Redmond

We've now had a chance to chat with each of our four seniors this year.  Here's a link to each of the interviews:

Haley Coleman and Peyton Redmond

McKenzie Brewer

Makenzee Hanna


Haley Coleman has become a star in this league.  She goes into her senior season with as much a chance to earn Player of the Year honors as anyone in the Southland Conference.  In terms of media types like me, Coleman's not a big talker.  I'll forever remember a "painful" interview after a match at Incarnate Word in which I had about six questions for her and she echoed with about six words for me.  But, don't let that fool you.  Haley is quite conversational one-on-one outside the camera eye or microphone's range.  Plus, she's super smart.  As in, highly intelligent smart.  I've always found this interesting : When you watch the team walk off the bus, you wouldn't guess she's the star outside hitter.  She loves to have fun on the court but carries herself with virtually no swagger and just isn't the type to call attention to herself.  That doesn't matter. After the match is done and it's time to get back on the bus everyone who was in the gym that night knows who's boss. Coleman is outstandingly fit.  All of these athletes tend to keep themselves in prime shape, but Haley has been disciplined in this area for her entire time in Ladyjack purple.  She's an example of how to care for one's self as a NCAA Division 1 athlete.  She gets the absolute most out of her 5'9" frame and when it is all said and done, I think she'll be remembered as one of the best and most unique outside hitters we've had at SFA over the last 10-20 years.

In the Coleman/Redmond interview, Peyton straightforwardly states she doesn't "want to come out" of matches.  I asked at one point about her strong suit (ball control) and then follow it up with whether or not she ever feels slighted as a hitter since the focus tends to be on her back row skills.  I didn't expect such a strong response.  I mean, I know every athlete wants to play every point, but I think Redmond has really asserted herself of late.  She's definitely locked in on trying to play a consistent all-rotation game and stay on the floor.  In the Memphis tournament, Redmond played six rotations against the two toughest opponents.  At least in the early going, she seems to be the favorite for playing time in the second outside hitter slot.  I can get the logic.  The more Redmond stays on the floor - the more stable first touch can be for the SFA offense.  This may weigh in coaches' minds as we are still settling into libero/DS usage with the freshmen. Watch the attack percentages.  Sure, she'll have to hit a lot of junk balls and back row shots.  But if she can hit a more typical .180-.190 for this role, then there may be no reason to relegate her to just back row duties.  At least for one weekend, the formula seemed fine.  Peyton has been a solid contributor all three years she's played for us. She's had a good volleyball career to this point. It will be interesting to see if there are substantial steps she can take forward in her swan song season.

Four on the Floor

The official beginning to the 2018 Fall practice season got underway in Shelton Gym  on Wednesday with the 18 members of the squad all decked out in fresh #weready T- shirts.  By the feel of the first day intensity the hashtag lived up to its name for now as the afternoon session gave more a sense of a midseason workout than a welcome back to campus walk-through.   Early morning group time preceded the two hour and 15 minute afternoon workout in what amounted to the first of seven two-a-day practices leading up to an August 18 scrimmage against UTA in Arlington.

As usual, I was present for most of the afternoon session on Day 1.  Early in the year, I am primarily watching freshmen to get acquainted with the newbie's' game and getting a feel for player positional usage in drills.  However, today we'll take a look at four core returning athletes at the nucleus of the 2018 squad.  Before launching off, let me encourage you to read the position by position previews that Volleyball Sports Information Director Charlie Hurley will be putting up over at sfajacks.com during the coming weeks.  Those previews are always well done and informative.

One of the main things to remember during the tournament part of our schedule in 2018 is the theme of versatility.  One of the things we saw a lot in 2017 was Head Coach Debbie Humphreys utilizing the same players in a variety of spots and roles as situations and opponents dictated.  Based on pre-season chats and the current roster configuration, I'd expect that to increase, if anything, in 2018. Some teams have a firm six to eight players in the same spots on the floor in the same rotations night in and night out.  The 2017 version of our rival, Sam Houston State, comes to mind here.  SFA's roster has more depth and flexibility, so different ladies tend to find their way into different usage patterns as we go through the year.  This necessitates the #weready philosophy from any non-starter each match because the puzzle isn't pieced together the same way every time.

Going into 2018, there are four players that would appear to have major court time locked down.  That's the focus of today and then we'll come back next week and look at two other components to the club:  those that complement this nucleus and the newcomers.  Of course, those two sets aren't predestined to be mutually exclusive, but I will separate them for the point of journalism.  After all, you realize you are reading fine journalism, don't you?

More seriously, 2017 Southland Conference MVP candidates Haley Coleman (SR) and Danae Daron (JR) are unquestionably at the front of opponents' minds when preparing for matches against the Ladyjacks. Coleman is coming off a 300k/300d season which saw her garner 1st team All-Southland Conference honors and improve her hitting percentage to a robust .255 after swinging just .120 as a sophomore.  Coleman's efficiency advances were clearly one of the highlights of the 2017 offense for SFA.  The average attack percentage among all left-side attackers in the Southland Conference usually settles in around .170-.190.  Last year, it was in the high .170's.  I found it interesting that Debbie Humphreys set the statistical goal per match for left-sides at .230 in a manual provided to players when they reported (of which, I also obtained a copy primarily for travel planning purposes, but you know - insider perks and all).  Only a handful of primary side attackers in the conference will hit anywhere close to that high for a full season, but Coleman shattered it in a season which saw her become one of the most recognized and talked about players in the league.

Quite simply, Daron is the one player on the roster that is most likely to make your jaw drop with her athleticism.  Already in Day 1 of practice she put down some thundering kills eliciting roars from her teammates.  She also denied ball after ball at the net on defense invoking multiple shakes of the head by those lumbering to get back in line to try again. Honestly,  she looked in mid-season form right off the bat and that should terrify opponents.  Daron was an easy pick for 1st Team All Southland Conference last year hitting .327. Humphreys' listed goal for MB's is.370 per match, which across a full season is almost unattainable as the league leader last year checked in at .349.  Daron was third.  Danae also rejected over 100 balls for the second straight season and fell just six kills shy of 300 for the year.  With two years left to don the purple and white, Daron has at least even odds to walk away with a Player of Year honor during her upperclassmen days at SFA.

Alongside Coleman and Daron is senior Makenzee Hanna.  Mak took huge steps forward in 2017 finishing second in the conference in attack percentage at .335 and leading the team with 116 total blocks.  Hanna was honored as 2nd Team All-Southland Conference and would be a good bet to at least repeat obtaining that recognition for 2018.  Among these three, we can already see the versatility theme emerging.  Both Daron and Hanna have experience in the middle and on the right side.  At times last year, Daron slid to the right and Hanna held down the middle.  How these two are deployed some nights may be tied to Sophomore Anyia Williams.  If Williams establishes that she consistently belongs on the floor, then SFA will have a massive three-headed blocking monster than can allow MB/RS mixes and matches and force all sorts of trouble for opponent  primary left side attacks.

I'm digressing a bit, but I see Anyia Williams progress in Year 2 as one of biggest issues coming into 2018.  At times during her freshman year, she showed flashes of dominance.  If she plays consistent net defense and anchors a role early in the season, then the Ladyjack front row defense should wind up the best in the league.  That would only serve to buoy up a restocked back row corps that sees Lexus Cain and 554 digs go out the door.  But more on that in future posts...

So, Coleman, Daron, Hanna.. mark them down.  They are in there.  Throw in JR setter Ann Hollas who appeared in every set the Ladyjacks played last year and you've got four players that you know will see consistent court time.  Hollas' overall numbers from 2017 don't really tell the whole story.  Again, with such diversity on offense, SFA would occasionally switch back and forth - sometimes in-match - between one and two setter configurations. Case in point, Ladyjack second setter and now senior McKenzie Brewer had 272 assists last year.  Hollas had 955.  Had SFA not utilized any twin setter approaches, Hollas' total assists would have landed in the top three in the league.  Of course, all this only points to the strength of having Brewer on the roster.  It should be mentioned here that when pressed about off season improvements, Humphreys immediately cited Brewer and sophomore setter Margaret Dean as taking the biggest steps in the spring practice season.  All of that adds up to even more flexibility because if Brewer is destined to back up Hollas again in 2018, I've got to think she'd rank as one of the top off-the-bench setters in the Southland.  Then again, SFA could easily run Brewer or Dean out there in the 6-2 if the situation calls for it.  That happened in 2017 with fair frequency, so there is plenty of evidence that Humphreys would  shift to it again if the situation seems right.

With substitutions and  rotation spot sharing in mind, these four still don't form even half of the crew that will finish with significant court time.  Aside from the aforementioned Anyia Williams, Brewer and Dean, there are six other returners and five freshmen.  Next week we'll get into all those complimentary  pieces that form the electrons circling our core nucleus on the floor.  That swirling group is headed by Corin Evans who put up a 200k/200d season in 2017.  Now a junior, Evans is flanked by the steady senior Peyton Redmond and breakout candidate junior Xariah Williams.  Redshirt freshman Lauren Wright gets her first taste on the active roster while the naturally caffeinated duo of sophomores Morgan Hinds and Julia Whitehead provide back row help.  All of that depth and how it might fit to create another championship squad will be our focus next time in this space. 

Senior interviews with Coleman, Redmond, Brewer and Hanna will begin popping up on our YouTube channel next week.  In the coming days, look for a short video to be posted explaining some of what to expect this year from the blog!  This is our 10th season covering Ladyjack and Southland Conference Volleyball.  The fact that we are SFA Volleyball's Strongest Presence on the 'Net has a decade of evidence behind it now. 

Get ready Ladyjack Volleyball fans!  The trek towards another Southland crown has begun!

The Subtle Part of the 5-1 Return: The Value of Coleman & Evans

If you follow SFA Volleyball even a little then you know the last week around here has seen some bold, new changes.  The first thing that Debbie Humphreys said to me after the 'Jacks swept UIW last Thursday evening was "How's that for a gutsy move?"  What she meant was her decision to let freshman Ann Hollas start her first collegiate match by running a 5-1 in an conference opener.

Two days later and the payoff was obvious.  SFA swept all nine sets they played against the Cardinals from San Antonio, UNT and Little Rock.  Ann Hollas was awarded the MVP of the Holiday Inn Express Tournament.  Abby McIntyre won Southland Conference Player of the Week.   Danae Daron re-wrote SFA record books by hitting .800 in a match. KK Payne cracked the Top 10 in attack percentage for all Southland players - by hitting from the left pin of all places.  Pinch me and tell me that the last sentence I wrote is actually true.  SFA... yes S-F-A has an outsider hitter hitting .228.

Then, of course, there is Lexus Cain doing her thing in the libero jersey no matter what offense is being run.  Charlie Hurley, our Volleyball Sports Information Director, pulled out a gem of a stat for the Baylor game notes:  Cain has more digs than an ENTIRE TEAM.  North Carolina Central  University has 258 digs.  The University of Lexus Cain at Nacogdoches has 271 digs.  Unreal.  Cain is second in the nation in digs per set with an otherworldly average of 5.77 digs per set.

All of the above is fairly well chronicled and has been observed by many a Ladyjack Volleyball fan over the last three matches.  However, this article isn't about Cain or McIntyre or Hollas or Payne or even middle blocker extraordinaire Justice Walker.  All of those players have overtly excelled in our return to the 5-1.  No, the love in this article goes to Haley Coleman and Corin Evans.

On the surface, Coleman and Evans don't appear to be racking up numbers worthy of high praise.  I mean, Coleman is still hitting negative for the season and Evans only has 44 attacks.  But, hear me out:  They provide what I think is a rather unusual additional advantage to our one setter offense.  As you might have come to expect, I have the numbers to back up this claim.

See, essentially, Coleman and Evans are playing DS.  Now, both are listed as outside hitters and have plenty of experience there in high school and club ball.  Don't forget Coleman played six-rotation outside for us during part of 2015 and a little earlier this year.  But right now, they are both essentially defensive specialists despite what your roster card says.  Evans is playing the back row slots in Payne's spot and Coleman is in there when McIntyre's spot goes to the back.  Since Payne and McIntyre are separated in the rotations by a few clicks, one of Coleman and Evans has been virtually always on the back row.

Check out the numbers that Coleman and Evans have put up in the three matches since we've returned to the 5-1:

•          Both had 9 digs vs. UNT which tied for 2nd best on the team that night.
•          Coleman had 4 aces over the weekend
•          Evans was 2nd on the team in digs vs. UIW
•          Combined the two have hit .235 from the back row and collectively put up just shy of 5 digs per set (2.33 for Coleman and 2.44 for Evans over the three matches)

It's the last bullet that I want to focus on.  That's the subtle part of our new back row that spreads the offense in a small, but meaningful way.  See, a DS can't do that.  A defensive specialist isn't going to attack at all, much less get you over a kill per set while hitting .235.  They just aren't going to get set (on purpose, that is).  True defensive specialists only attack when something went horribly wrong on offense.  Even at that, they are virtually 100% "just get the ball over" attacks.

When Coleman and/or Evans are on the back row the team has an extra potential hitter that is really in the match for either serving, serve receive and/or defense.  That's a really subtle use of those spots.  So often, when a hitter goes back row, she is subbed out for a "true DS".  You know, the 5-5 gal that can dig everything up and pass.  Well, we have a few of those on our team and they are good players.  We haven't seen the last of contributors like Sam Rodriguez.  I mean, EVERY TEAM, has the little DS types that just buzz around and dig/pass. If they weren't valuable, then why would so many 5-2 girls be playing college volleyball?  Go to any NCAA roster you want and you'll find them.

But, for now... having Coleman and Evans be a sort of hybrid hitter/DS type has paid subtle dividends on offense as well as defense.

Ok, I know what you are thinking:  "Whoa, Greg, you are way ahead of yourself.  Coleman and Evans only put up 10 kills combined in three matches.  That's not a huge deal."  Well, I don't mind saying this:  If that's what you think, then you'd be wrong. 

Those kills plus aces ARE a big deal and let me tell you why:   Since going back to the 5-1, SFA has averaged 13.89 kills per set.  That number extrapolated out to the entire season would be good enough for 45th in the nation.  Now, if you take away Coleman and Evans offensive contributions from playing on the back row, we would have 12.78 kills per set over that same time.  So, there we see the difference is 1.11 kill per set.  Not a big deal, right?

Wrong.

The 12.78 k/s figure over the whole season would be good for only 137th in the nation.  So, put another way, with Coleman and Evans scoring a little from the back row, SFA hit last weekend like a Top 50 club.  Without them, we regress to a middle-of-the-pack 137th.  That one kill per set is the difference between 45th ranked production and 137th ranked production.  If a "true DS" was playing in both those spots, we probably would have 0 kills from the back row.  Combine that with the unlikely chance that the true DS's could amass more than 5 digs per set and you come to the conclusion that is subtly advantageous to use two outside hitters as surrogate defensive specialists!!

The only reason that this works is because Coleman and Evans are both capable of six-rotation duties.  It's just that we don't need them to do that right now thanks to Peyton Redmond.  Now, Redmond was hitting under .100, which made me think that if the trend continued we might see Coleman or Evans in her spot.  But, Redmond passes so well and has had a couple of good offensive performances of late to push her up to .114.  She needs to get things up above .150, but still.. the trend is in the right direction and her passing is so good that her role is safe for the near future.

So, while Hollas, McIntyre, Walker and Cain keep winning awards, let's not forget about the advantage of having back row players that could just as well be front row players in Coleman and Evans.  Amidst all this newfound optimism among the 'Jacks offense, the subtle contributions at the service line and efficient back-row attacks of Haley Coleman and Corin Evans are demonstrably valuable as well.