Volleyball anxious to start 2016 season at New Mexico

Women's Volleyball | 8/25/2016 4:36:00 PM

New Mexico: Live Stats | Mountain West Network Live Stream
Idaho: Live Stats
Fairfield: Live Stats
Arizona State: Live Stats

ABILENE - A talented crop of experienced youngsters and distinguished veterans that compose the Abilene Christian volleyball roster are excited to begin their 2016 season this weekend, and continue building on last season's success that propelled them to a fourth-place showing within the Southland Conference.

ACU's first stop during four weeks of tournament play is the University of New Mexico, where the Wildcats will face the host Lobos in addition to Idaho and 2015 NCAA Championship qualifiers Fairfield and Arizona State. 

"We're looking forward to getting this group on the floor and competing against other teams," said third-year head coach Jason Bibler. "Everyone's done a good job preparing, keeping their heads down and grinding in practices. Yes, we're still getting ready for these first matches but there's been improvement every day."

The team leans young with seven freshmen and five sophomores; however, four of the second-year athletes appeared in well over 100 sets as rookies. The team also returns versatile and talented upperclassmen Corinne Grandcolas, Lexi Mercier and Dorothy Swanson. 

Mercier's been a starting middle blocker since her freshman year and has three straight seasons with over 100 blocks. Swanson saw time in 105 sets a season ago and is frequently the team's first choice off the bench as she can play most all positions. Grandcolas, meanwhile, is coming a solid offseason with hopes of earning a spot in the starting rotation at outside hitter.

The competition for a starting role will be fierce, and Mercier likes what she's been seeing from the freshmen and sophomores.

"They're fighters," she said of the freshmen. "They have a competitive fire, work very hard and like to try new things in practice – they're open to playing new positions and have challenged the entire team along the way.  

"I've also seen a lot of growth in the sophomores," she added. "They've stepped up their game and the level of leadership they've displayed has been awesome. I think we all feel much closer following the spring season, and the bonds we've developed have helped us push each other more on the court."

Three of this year's sophomores were among the team's leading scorers in 2015. Kendall Bosse, who will see more time this fall at setter, averaged 2.25 kills and 2.64 points per set to go along with 47 blocks. Lauren Walker will continue to play at middle blocker alongside Mercier after hitting .286 last year and averaging 2.12 kills and 0.91 blocks per set, while outside hitter Jacey Smith came up with 1.95 kills per set.

The team will continue to let Bosse hit, and when she's moved into more of an attack position, the offense will run through freshman setter Makenzie Kesler. The two-time MVP graduated in 2016 from Trinity Christian Academy with 18 triple doubles and career totals of 1,239 assists, 804 kills, 723 digs, 143 blocks and 135 aces. 

Defensively, the Wildcats will look to the experience of sophomore Lillian Drever who appeared in all but one set a season ago and dug out 1.89 attacks per set and finished second on the team with 17 service aces. The coaching staff also expects freshman and AVCA / USA Today Under Armor All-America Amanda Chapa to play at libero. Chapa registered 1,500 career digs and 116 service aces during her high school career at Pearland, which posted a 157-31 record during her four years as a starter.

Despite the influx of talent coming in and the familiarity some players have at a certain position, Bibler doesn't want to peg a player into a single role, in fact, he's wanting to see more flexibility among all his student-athletes. 

"With us, there's going to be a 'next man up' mentality (for each position)," he said. "This is a good team – a good group of young ladies and we'll need each of them to be able to play all positions and pick up the slack if needed. We're going to be built differently than in years past and I'm hoping to see sets distributed more evenly."

ACU is slated to play a doubleheader on Friday and Saturday. The Wildcats take on the Lobos at 1:30 p.m. CT Friday followed by the Vandals at 6:30 p.m., while Saturday's slate features ACU vs. the Fairfield Stags at 11 a.m. and Sun Devils at 4 p.m. 

The Wildcats have yet to play any of these schools with the exception of New Mexico, which topped ACU in three sets during the Wildcats first year as a NCAA DI program in 2013.

"We developed a lot of chemistry when we were all together starting in July – there is a lot of fire and competitiveness within this team," said Mercier, "and I hope we can get off to a strong start and do better in the Southland. We know we can win, so let's go in with confidence."