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bleedCrimson.net Weekly Coach Jordan Interview :: 04/03/08
Brynja Rodgers' Aggie Volleyball Diary :: April 4th, 2008
Written by: Jason Groves/Sun-News Reporter
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Football is not the only fall sport at New Mexico State University that is gearing for next year in the spring.
The NMSU volleyball team split a pair of matches at the University of Arizona last weekend as part of its six-week spring practice period that concludes April 26 with a game against Aggies alumni such as Alice Borden, Stevi Adams and Jackie Choi.
NMSU lost its morning match in four games at Arizona before coming back to win in the afternoon, winning the fifth game 15-10.
"Arizona is a good PAC-10 team," Aggies head coach Mike Jordan said. "They return most of their starting lineup from a year ago and that's what you want in the spring."
Teams are allowed four competition dates in the spring, with last week's exhibition being the first. Next weekend, the Aggies travel to Houston for the Tornado Spring Tournament. The Aggies are scheduled to play matches against Oklahoma, Baylor, Arkansas and Texas.
"We are going to face good athletes and that's what we want because our schedule in the fall is one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country," Jordan said.
The Aggies open the 2008 regular season at the University of Illinois with matches against Illinois and North Carolina. They play host to Texas, Utah and Houston the next weekend and round out the non-conference schedule at Stanford's tournament against the Cardinal, Santa Clara and Santa Barbara.
The Aggies opened the spring with the goal of developing younger players to play bigger roles next season.
Redshirt sophomore Whitney Woods, along with sophomore outside hitter Alex Steinmetz and junior outside hitter Kelli Goodan, could play key roles for the Aggies next year. Jordan said the three young players need to develop more of a complete game in order to contribute consistently. Woods didn't play last season until the Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals, where her athleticism made an immediate impact on the right side.
"They need to become more versatile," Jordan said. "They need to be better at serve return and defense. It's not enough to be a good hitter and a good blocker. We want to be able to switch positions."
Jordan expects Woods to stay on the right side, along with Steinmetz while Gooden moves to the left side to back up senior Lindsey Yon.
Steinmetz is recovering from a stress fracture of her left fibula. In her first spring at the college level, the Las Cruces High School graduate said the focus of the spring practice sessions initially caught her off guard.
"I definitely want to play a larger role," Steinmetz said. "I want to be a go to player."
Steinmetz has taken advantage of the spring though, taking the time to improve as a player in hopes her court time will increase.
"You really have to focus on the little things," Steinmetz said. "Spring is a good time to get over bad habits and do it in practice so it comes naturally during the season."
Yon didn't play last weekend and was just cleared to practice on Thursday after undergoing eye surgery six weeks ago on a partially detached retina. The injury occurred in pre-game warmups prior to the Aggies' Sept. 20, 2007, match against Utah State.
"I haven't played since December so I'm just really trying to get back into it and learn how to play again," said Yon, who didn't play last weekend, but will travel to Houston.
While Jordan hopes to develop his young talent, the Aggies will lean heavily on the experience of returnees like Yon, libero Krystal Torres, setters Brynja Rodgers and Alyssa Gintant and senior middle Amber Simpson.
"I'm trying to take a leadership role along with Krystal," Yon said. "There are a lot of new faces so we need some leadership."
Simpson has improved in the middle, but the Aggies will need her to play a larger role with the graduation of All-American Kim Oguh. Even with the addition of Georgia Tech transfer Erin Birmingham in the middle, Jordan hopes Simpson will also develop a leadership role.
"She has been content to be a role player, but we need more out of her now," Jordan said. "She is certainly capable and experienced enough to take over games and part of that is to demand the ball."
The Aggies have been practicing for two hours a day five or six days a week, hoping hard work in the spring will lead to breaking through with a NCAA Tournament victory after making the tournament the last two years.
"We have learned a lot about ourselves," Jordan said.
Jason Groves can be reached at jgroves@lcsun-news.com
