By Andrew Kiser
The CMU Volleyball Team has been picked to finish second in the RMAC after finishing tied for second last season, with Colorado School of Mines being the team picked ahead of them.
With the loss of several key players from last season, head Coach Dave Fleming does not know what to expect with the addition of eight freshman to the team.
“It’s hard to say how we improved during the offseason because we have eight freshman,” Fleming said. “Our upperclassmen have improved on their conditioning over the summer, but through our first nine days of practice our focus has been on the freshman.”
In the first few days of practice, Fleming and the other coaches are teaching the young players how to be more consistent.
“We recruited them because we think they are all very talented and physical,” Fleming said. “I think what they need to improve on at the level we want to go to is that they have to be more consistent. In high school they could get away with cruising a little bit, but at the level we want to go, they can’t. You have to be dynamic and athletic all the time.”
With Fleming’s focus on the new players, he has also seen improvement in many of his players. According to Fleming, sophomore outside hitter MacKenzie Edwards has made the longest strides from last season.
“Edwards has made the biggest improvement out of everyone from last year,” Fleming said. “As of today [she is] clearly a starter. [She is] very dominant [at] hitting the ball hard and playing great defense.”
As for Edwards, she credits her teammates for helping her overall improvement.
She also says having a year of experience helps her become a better player.
“It helps because as a team we can see the higher lever that college [volleyball] is and we know how to adapt and play at that high level, but I do think having a year of experience helps,” Edwards said.
Coming into this season, libero Taylor Woods was named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. She was also later named to the preseason team. Last season, Woods was named AVCA South Central Region Freshman of the Year and RMAC Freshman of the Year. She led the conference in digs per set with 5.62 and had 552 total digs, which ranked second in the conference.
Middle blocker, Hattie Gianinetti, was also named to the preseason team. She finished last season with 288 kills, which was third best on the team, and led CMU with 57 blocks.
Last season, the Mavs finished tied for second with MSU Denver and Western New Mexico in the RMAC, while Colorado School of Mines finished first in the conference.
The Mavs advanced to the RMAC Championship game, but lost to Colorado Mines 3-2.
The team also made it to the semifinals of the NCAA South Central Region Tournament, but also lost to Arkansas-Fort Smith, 3-2.
CMU finished with a 14-4 conference record and an overall record of 19-12.
The Mavs’ first game starts with the Oredigger Classic against Wayne State College at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 2, at Lockridge Arena in Golden, Colo.
