STARKVILLE — Mississippi State volleyball coach Jenny Hazelwood had motivation for her players when they started preseason practice Wednesday.
All she had to do was hand each of them the Southeastern Conference preseason poll done by the league coaches, which has the Bulldogs picked to finish last in the Western Division of the league.
Hazelwood’s players didn’t need the notification. They know where they’re supposed to finish in 2012 and the message they have for the rest of the league of simple defiance.
“I try to look at it from an outsider perspective and we lost one of the best players in the league (outside hitter Caitlyn Rance) and we have a lot of coaches in the league that don’t know anything about us,” Hazelwood said. “That’s fine. What really matters is how we play against them and not what they think we’ll be.”
The one factor that Hazelwood is looking forward to not have to adjust to in 2012 is injuries. In the opening tournament the past two seasons at Newell-Grissom Gymnasium, MSU has seen its team suffer not only disappointing losses to start the season but devestating season-impacting injuries took place long before the Bulldogs began Southeastern Conference play.
Without a lot of experienced depth at key positions like left outside hitter, Hazelwood is hoping to not have to visit the training room so much this season but she has convinced her veteran leaders that a injury will not be what she’s called “a shock to the system” as in past campaigns.
“We can win the West this season and the reason is the leaders on the team have been through the all the bad stuff,” MSU junior setter Paris Perret said. “The level of talent on this team is way higher than it’s ever been.”
Peret has fought through two things she’d never encountered in her volleyball career since being anointed the next great setter at MSU while being tutored by the school’s all-time assists leader in Hazelwood.
The first is the losing that comes with being the first piece in a rebuilding situation in Starkville. Peret’s high school team lost 17 matches in her final two years combined and won back-to-back district titles before arriving on the MSU campus from Frisco, Tex. The Bulldogs lost exactly that number last season in a frustrating year that finished 12-17 and MSU has never won the Western Division in school history.
The second is the maturity of understanding a relationship with a head coach that has handed the 5-foot-10 prospect with so much immediate responsibility and being able to deal with the expectations that go along with being the setter on a collegiate volleyball team.
Peret even sat a match early last season, her first on the bench in her college career, and followed up the wake-up call by leading MSU to four straight victories including a tournament championship in her home state at Beaumont, Texas.
“I’ve had to learn a lot my first two years here and I’m ready to lead this team and I understand now what that takes,” Perret said. “(Hazelwood) has always wanted a lot out of me and it’s just time now. My job is to get others to greatness.”
Hazelwood will rely early on the impressive athletic abilities of freshman outside hitter Taylor Scott and her 30-inch vertical leap.
The California native paced her high school team in kills her final two seasons at Claremont High School and totaled 236 kills with 127 digs, 15 aces and 26 blocks in helping lead Claremont High School to a runner-up finish in the Sierra League and the quarterfinals of the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.
“She’s going to be a fan favorite because of the way she plays,” Hazelwood said. “She just flies all around the court and she’s a 5-foot-9 kid that is fast and can jump really high. I don’t care what sport, that’s fun to watch.”
Scott will be likely paired with the veteran leadership on the opposite side of the court with the Bulldogs only senior in Chanelle Baker. The Carrolton, Tex., native has played in 58 of the team’s last 60 matches and will be asked to be proficient at the right side or right outside hitter depending on the progression of some of the depth elsewhere on the team.
“It’s a challenge to be the only senior and I’m willing to step forward to embrace the extra pressure,” Baker said. “We have a lot of players that can contribute immediately now. In the past we’ve had to wait on young players. That’s not an issue any longer.”
The key to Hazelwood’s starting puzzle will likely be in the middle with the return of All-SEC Freshman team blocker Lainey Wymann. The ability to secure the signing of one of the Chicagoland area’s best volleyball players two years paid off immediately for MSU as Wymann piled up 108 total blocks, third-most in the SEC in 2011 and the most by a Mississippi State freshman all-time. She ranked second on the team with 247 kills and led freshmen in the Southeastern Conference in both blocks and kills.
“Lainey has been so solid from the moment she first walked into our gym,” Hazelwood said. “Her ability and her competitiveness make her such a valuable asset to this program. She established herself as one of the best in the SEC as a freshman and I am excited to see all that she will do during her Mississippi State career.”
The Bulldogs open the 2012 campaign and a 13-match home schedule August 24-25, hosting Jackson State, Kennesaw State, and ULM in the two-day MSU Maroon Classic. MSU will eventually head to a 2012 tournament hosted by one of the nation’s premier schools in the University of Southern California.
“That level of play will be more like SEC play and if we do well there, we’ll know we can handle whatever the league has for us this year.” Perret said.
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