OXFORD — Injuries are an equalizer.
The confidence a team can lose as a result of one or more injuries can compound matters and make it even tougher for it to find its footing.
The University of Mississippi volleyball team experienced that roller coaster last season. Ole Miss showed it could compete with the best teams in the Southeastern Conference, losing three matches to the University of Tennessee and the University of Kentucky in five sets, but a nine-match losing skid in the middle of the season derailed the team’s postseason chances.
A 6-4 finish helped reinforce the point that Ole Miss had the potential to be a player in the SEC if only it had been healthy.
“It was a frustrating year for us,” Ole Miss coach Joe Getzin said. “I don’t think we achieved what we were capable of achieving.”
This season, Getzin welcomes back two players from injuries he had counted on in 2011 and a class of five freshmen he feels will help give the Rebels the depth they need to rebound from an 11-17 finish (7-13 in the Southeastern Conference).
“I was real proud of the effort we continued to give,” Getzin said. “It would have been real easy for a team to pack it in. I thought we had great leadership from Regina (Thomas) and Morgan (Springer). I think if we had won some of the close matches earlier in the year it would have ben easier for us to win some of those tight matches (later in the season). We didn’t take advantage of those things when they came our way.”
Unfortunately, Ole Miss will have to take the next step without Thomas, an All-SEC and honorable mention All-American, and Springer, who led the team with 430 digs and was second on the team in assists. Thomas was third in hitting percentage (.369) in the SEC at middle blocker. She also was third in blocks in the league at 1.1 per set. Her hitting percentage is even more impressive when you consider Ole Miss was 10th in that category in the 11-team league (.202). Only Mississippi State University had a lower percentage.
“We have worked a lot on shot selection, scoring, and knowing when to score and when to keep the ball in play,” Getzin said. “We’re becoming a little bit more patient with our offense.”
Only Kellie Goss (.282 in 52 sets) and Amanda Philpot (.236) had hitting percentages above the .225 clip Getzin considers acceptable for hitters other than middle blockers. This season, Getzin is counting on senior outside hitter Allegra Wells to improve on her .191 percentage from 2011 and lead the team.
“She has shown from a physical standpoint she is as good as anyone in the league,” Getzin said. “She is coming back from a little meniscus surgery (and off competing with the school’s track and field team). Because of that, I feel she has matured and as an athlete is ready for a bigger role.”
Coupled with junior outside hitter Kara Morgan (260 kills, .173 percentage), senior Whitney Craven (152 kills, .111 percentage), senior defensive Ashley Veach, and redshirt junior Kiley Sherman, Getzin feels the Rebels have enough candidates to make up for the loss of Thomas and Springer.
Getzin carries that optimism into the season after a successful spring season in which the team beat Georgia Tech and Baylor on the road. He said the returning players showed they were a little more wiser and a little more physical at the net. Building on that effort, he said the Rebels had a productive summer and that he is anxious to see if players are prepared to step into bigger roles, or if new players are ready to make their presence felt.
Getzin hopes Philpot is one player who can do that. Last season, she led the team with 964 assists. She showed her versatility in the team’s final match, a 3-0 victory against the University of Alabama, when she had 14 kills, 44 assists, and 13 digs (.423 hitting percentage).
“She is the most offensive setter in the league,” Getzin said. “Being left-handed, I think she brings a piece of the puzzle that keeps people guessing. Anytime you have a senior quarterback you feel good. She has played for three years and I think she brings that confidence to the team.”
The addition of Texas A&M University and the University of Missouri, two programs that are used to advancing to the NCAA tournament, will make things tougher. But given what he saw last season, Getzin believes his team has the potential, especially if it stays healthy and gets contributions from players returning from injuries and from freshmen, to finish in the top five in the league.
“When we were done with last season, we pointed out to them that these teams were winning championships and we had the opportunity to beat them,” Getzin said. “We didn’t take advantage of it, so we have been asking, ‘Why not us (this season)? What is stopping us?’ That is something that has motivated them all summer.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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