2018 SFA Volleyball Positional Preview | Defensive Specialist/Libero
8/17/2018 10:29:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
As the defending Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin volleyball team goes through its fall camp in preparation for the 2018 campaign, SFAJacks.com will be putting out a position-by-position preview of the squad. This final portion of the preview focuses on the Ladyjacks' crew of defensive specialists and liberos - Marisabel Torres, Sabrina Monaco and Julia Whitehead.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - For the most part, there haven't been too many questions about where the offense and front row defense will come from for the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team in 2018.
After all, the defending Southland Conference regular season champions return over 90-percent of their kills, just shy of 85-percent of their blocking total and nearly 82-percent of their service ace tally from the 2017 campaign.
From purely a statistical standpoint, however, the lone positional group that lost the most at the conclusion of 2017 was SFA's defensive specialists and liberos. That not to say the Ladyajcks don't have any production from the previous year returning among that position group, but the total is not a large number.
It is, to be precise, two digs in two sets played across two matches.
Despite the minimal amount of experience to draw on, SFA's reputation for recruiting and developing premier back row players means there won't be a big time drop-off with the team's production in that area.
"It's a position that's going to be very competitive and it's going to be a position where we are a little young, but I feel very confident in the talent level of the three individuals we have on our roster," commented 31st-year head coach Debbie Humphreys.
Lexus Cain did most of the heavy lifting for the Ladyjacks' back row players in 2017, racking up 554 of the team's 2,020 digs (27.4-percent) throughout the year to help her attain All-Southland Conference Second Team acclaim at the conclusion of the regular season. A senior in 2017, Cain's departure opens the door for a different individual to take over reception duties in an off-colored jersey on the back row.
The only candidate among the Ladyjacks' ranks with any prior collegiate experience is redshirt sophomore Julia Whitehead who made her collegiate debut last season in a 3-0 victory at Louisiana-Monroe. Though she only registered a pair of digs - coming during a 3-0 Southland Conference triumph at Southeastern Louisiana - the seemingly endless energy and animation of the Sugar Land, Texas, product helped her inject an important dose of vibrancy into the team dynamic.
"You're going to get every ounce of what she has every night," remarked Humphreys about Whitehead. "Whether she's in the game or whether she's on the bench she is invested and she is all about this team and this program. She busts her tail at practice like no other."
In addition to Whitehead, two newcomers have been putting in the time and effort throughout the summer and preseason in order to get on the floor come match time. Now in Nacogdoches on the heels of a spectacular prep career at Dawson High School, Marisabel Torres gathered up a pair of All-State nods (TAVC and TGCA) following a senior year where she helped lead her squad to the UIL 6A semifinals.
Thanks to the defensive efforts of the Pearland, Texas, product, Dawson was ranked ninth in the state at the conclusion of 2017 and did not drop a district match during Torres' final two seasons of prep play.
"Both Mari and Sabrina [Monaco] have very good ball control and both have played at a high level so the question for each of them just becomes how quickly can they adjust to the college game," Humphreys continued.
Joining Torres as a newcomer in both the back row and for the Ladyjacks is Monaco, who - like senior teammate McKenzie Brewer - played her prep volleyball at Carroll High School. With Monaco on its side, Carroll never lost a district match in 2014 or 2015 and earned runner-up finishes in district play during her final two seasons of deployment. Through her final season in a Lady Dragons uniform, Monaco averaged 5.5 digs per set while helping her squad go 38-8.
All of the prep experience Monaco and Torres have under their proverbial belts will doubtlessly be of use as they continue to go through the paces of preseason camp and make their own adjustments to the speed and style of the game at the next level.
While the adjustment level may be a little steeper in the back row than anywhere else on the court for the Ladyjacks in 2018, there's a very simply bottom line according to Humphreys.
"They were brought in here to do a job and now they've got to do it."
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Season Opener
In one week, SFA will begin its 2018 season in Memphis, Tenn., as one of four teams in the Memphis Invitational. The Ladyjacks' three-match schedule at the invitational begins at 7:00 p.m., on Friday, August 24, when they tangle with the host Tigers of the University of Memphis.
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