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Sophomore group among best in Region VI
Fort Scott Community College's volleyball team begins its fourth season under head coach Lindsay Hill by hosting the Fort Scott Tournament at Arnold Arena tonight and Saturday.
The Greyhounds finished 19-18 overall last season but just 3-7 in the Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division. They qualified for post-season play but lost in the first round to Cowley, which went on to win the NJCAA Division II national championship.
Fort Scott returns three sophomores, all of whom are on the list of NJCAA Division II top returning players at their positions, and has another sophomore who was transferred in from Pittsburg State University.
Hill looks for her team to continue the improvement that's taken place under her watch -- FSCC volleyball was 5-28 the year before she arrived -- while also maintaining their high standards in the classroom.
"We have a great team that wants to improve and work, which as a coach is refreshing," Hill says. 'They are also very focused in the classroom, so we will be shooting to win a national championship in the classroom."
Hill expects her starting lineup to have sophomores Shelbey Baker (5' 10", Fredonia) and freshman Brandi Huesman (5' 9", Overland Park) at outside hitter, freshman Julia Stringer (6' 0", Topeka) as the right-sie hitter, sophomore Molly Hathan (6' 3", Ozawkie), the Pitt State transfer, and freshman Sheri Middleton (6' 3", Humboldt) as middle blockers, sophomore Kortney Blaufuss (5' 10", Burlington) as the setter and sophomore Terina Harris (5' 4", Houston, Texas) as the libero. She lists four freshmen as key backups: Rachel Dugan (5' 10", Liberal, Mo.) at middle blocker, Ariel Hornsby (5' 8", Bentonville, Ark.) at outside hitter and Emily Bruce (5' 3", Centerton, Ark.) and Fallyn Ozbun (5' 3", El Dorado Springs, Mo.) at libero. Also on the roster are freshmen A'Llante Snyder (6' 0", Reserve, La.), Kylee Jarrett (5' 7", Wichita) and Yamiq Myles (5' 11", Moreno Valley, Calif.).
Blaufuss is one of only three setters listed among returning sophomores to watch in Region VI by the NJCAA. She averaged 10.37 assists per set (A/S)last season, one of just five returning players who averaged at least 10 assists per set nationally last season. Blaufuss also averaged 2.03 digs per set. The other top returning setters in Region VI are Lily Thornberg of Kansas City Kansas (10.19 A/S) and Tori Eads of Labette (7.08 A/S).
Baker averaged 2.36 kills per set last season, fourth best among those returning in Region VI. She also averaged 3.22 digs per set. Due to injury, she played in only 26 of Fort Scott's 37 matches last season.
Harris averaged 3.62 digs per set (D/S) last season, third best among Region VI returning liberos and defensive specialists. In that group, only Coffeyville's Marissa Richardson (4.85 D/S) and Johnson County's Alexis Hartzog (4.65 D/S) had better numbers last season and only one other player in Region VI, Hesston's Samanthan Rinaman (3.36 D/S) has as many as 3 digs per set.
"All three of our (returning) sophomores have improved tremendously," Hill said. "In spring season, we spent a lot of time working on weaknesses. Now they are strengths. Kortney was selected by the NJCAA as one of the top-returning setters in the country. Shelbey will surprise a lot of people this year in how much her game has improved."
The new players will bring added depth to the roster, which will have more height than previous Fort Scott teams.
"Our coaching staff spent more time on recruiting the right student-athletes to fit our program," Hill said. "Our strength will be our speed of our offense. Every year our offense is successful because we teach a fast-paced offense. We are strong in every position, which will give us a lot of options on offense.
"The biggest key to us having a good year will be our serve receive passing and our team chemistry. We will need to have strong serve receive in order to run our faster-paced offense."
Three Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division teams make an appearance in the NJCAA Division II pre-season poll: Cowley at No. 2, Johnson County at No. 3, and Kansas City at No. 12. For the Greyhounds to contend in the East, they'll have to be able to compete with those three teams.
"Johnson (is) returning most of their players from last year," Hill said. "They're always strong in recruiting. Cowley lost a lot of their players but had a good recruting class. KCK is the team I feel is the strongest on paper. They have the Freshman of the Year last year (Kailee Dudley), who attended Butler and transferred at semester. They will be strong in all positions."
The Greyhounds will play two matches today and Saturday. Today's opponents are Wentworth Military Academy at 1 p.m. and Pratt at 7 p.m. Saturday, they will face East Central (Mo.) at 11 a.m. and Labette at 7 p.m.