Fall Preview: Gott, Metter leading DV volleyball into 2008

There's certainly a lot of weight to carry, but Molly West figures she's found two pillars that should stand steady all season.

A team comprised of six sophomores, five juniors and three seniors, Desert Vista girls volleyball will rely heavily on senior setter Anna Gott and junior outside hitter Betsi Metter in 2008.

"They really are going to have to have very big shoulders this year," West said, "because we've got a lot of young, new kids."

The Thunder, ranked near the top of Class 5A-I nearly all year during a 39-7 season in 2007, saw their year end in a disappointing second-round loss to eventual champ Phoenix Xavier Prep. That veteran squad featured the likes of Abby Simmons, the East Valley Tribune's 5A Player of the Year and now a setter a Utah, and Lauren Howard, now of San Diego Christian College.

By contrast, the 2008 team is largely inexperienced.

"My younger players have a lot of potential," West said, "but they're just really young in terms of experience and understanding the game. I think their volleyball IQ right now is really going to grow. They will get better faster, but it will take some time."

To fill the void left by Simmons, West moved Gott to setter from libero, a role that helped her earn a scholarship to NAU for next year. Gott shared setting duties with Simmons during her freshman and sophomore seasons, but moved to libero full time last year.

Now, Gott, who led the team with 569 digs and 73 aces last season, is moving back.

"This is her year," West said. "She was so good behind the block and her ball control, passing and digging, that she sort of gave up another passion of setting to (fill the) libero (role).

"This year, I told her, ‘The setting job is yours,'" West added. "I feel really fortunate that I have some good experience since Abby's gone."

Metter, who led the team with 351 kills last season, will continue to be the team's heavy hand as an outside hitter, but will see her role expand this season.

"I am going to be maximizing her in the front row based on who we're playing and what we need for offense and defense at the net," West said. "And then the backcourt, I'm really going to maximize her back there. I'm probably going to put her in a position to dig a whole lot more balls.

"Without changing my lineup, I could have her play right (side), I could have her play left -- gosh, she could probably play middle. She's just that good," West added. "Really, I will be using her more this year, because she's much more experienced. She's more poised, she's very confident. She's just so capable.

"I've never had a player like Betsi on the outside. She is, by far, the most complete package as an outside hitter that I've ever had. And I've had some good outside hitters."

With Gott moving to setter, the libero duties will fall to sophomore Renae Sniegowski and junior Kelsey Brown.

Another sophomore, McKella Williams, returns with a year's experience playing varsity. Kyle Hartman, a junior, and Haley van Raaphorst, also a sophomore, should also make impacts on the squad this season, and depending on whether or not she can fully recover from a foot injury, junior Sarah Epp could also help the team out, West said.

DV is minus senior Kelly Hultgren, who will miss the entire season with a back injury. The 6-foot middle blocker was expected to be a major contributor.

"It's a different feel this year, walking in and knowing that I've got a lot more little things to key in on and most of it is, like I said, getting their volleyball IQ up," West said. "It's not even the skill piece, because they're going to get the skills, it's understanding the game at the level we play.

"It's funny to me, because it just seems so fundamental, but if no one's told them what to look at, and when to do things, they're just playing. That's the difference," she added. "A lot of these kids are coming in and they're just playing, and they're playing hard, but it's almost like they're playing too hard, because they're making it harder than it needs to be.

"I'm just trying to get them to be smarter. And that's really our goal this year, I think, is to come together as a team and just play very smart."