Kirsten Bernthal Booth’s 17th season at the helm features more questions than answers offensively, but plenty of young talent in place as the Bluejays look to fill the void left by the graduation of two of the most prolific pin hitters in the country in Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth.
Despite the key departures, Booth and her coaching staff are treating 2019 as a reloading year as opposed to a rebuilding year. The goal of winning the Big East for a sixth straight year is still on the white board, and the non-conference slate is filled with elite opponents and RPI boosters that serve to impress committee members on Selection Sunday in December.
Before the regular season kicks off against in-state rival Nebraska on Friday, August 30, we caught up with the head coach to get her assessment of the group of young women tasked with upholding the standards set by the players of the past.
Defensive Specialists
#2 Brittany Witt (5’8″ / Senior / Omaha, Nebraska)
I think Witt has had her best preseason yet. She’s just such a great player and does so much stuff off the court at such a high level. I think now it’s time for her to just go out and enjoy the game, and I think that will even take her to the next level. She’s been a great leader for us this year. She’s been passing really well in practice. It’s been fun to kind of see her fly a little bit more.
#4 Grace Nelson (5’9″ / Junior / Bennington, Nebraska)
Some would say that Grace has improved the most in the last year. Last year from a passing standpoint she was a little bit up and down; sometimes she’d be good and sometimes she would struggle. Really it was because her body was a little bit chaotic. She has really calmed her body down and has been one of our most consistent passers. She’s always been a great defender. She is our high-energy, spitfire kid, so it’s exciting that she is fighting for time. It’s awesome seeing kids like that progress and hopefully get some opportunities on the court when they’ve worked so hard. She’s improved a lot and I think her confidence has gone up a lot too.
#16 Emily Bressman (5’10” / Freshman / Omaha, Nebraska)
Bress has come in and done a great job. She’s got a cannon for an arm too. She’s just undersized for our level, but she was the all-time kills leader at Marian, which is an unbelievable statement. She’s actually been getting some outside time with us, but she’ll see her role mostly in the back row. It gives us an offensive threat in addition to her defense and passing.
#17 Makenna Krause (5’6″ / Freshman / Greenville, Wisconsin)
I think Kenna is a little bit like Grace was year and a half ago. She’s a great athlete, but she does a little bit too much dancing right now with her passing — she’s got a little bit of extra movement. We’ve really worked with her on calming her body and her feet down, and kind of slow the game down. I think she’s got the potential to be a very good DS. She’s got a couple things she’s working on and it’ll be fun to see her progress.
Setters
#3 Ally Van Eekeren (6’0″ / Freshman / Naperville, Illinois)
Ally played for a high level club and for a high level high school. I think she has the pieces to be a really great player. We’re doing a little bit of adjustment with her hands and we need to work on accuracy a little bit, but she is a physical kid that has the pieces to be good, and I think she has the head to be good. It’ll be fun to watch her progress throughout the year.
#10 Megan Sharkey (5’10” / Senior / Bettendorf, Iowa)
Shark had a great couple days of practice and then got a whiplash concussion, so she’s still out. She’s really looked to as a leader. It’s been a nightmare that she can’t be around, but luckily she’s been in the system long enough that the players love and trust her and look up to her. We looking forward to getting her back. She was really setting a good ball and her serve has really improved a lot.
#18 Madelyn Cole (5’10” / Senior / Dallas, Texas)
Cole is coming off of a great year, and for her it’s kind of along the same thing I said about Witt — she just needs to go play. The skill is there. Obviously there are nuances with some of the things we are changing offensively. She, Ally, and Sharkey, when she gets back, need to continue to work on those things and get comfortable with each player. I think Cole has the potential to have a great year. Her serve is really good and her defense has gone to another level. She wants to be great. She wants to be a good leader and make her hitters better.
Outside Hitters
#6 Keeley Davis (6’1″ / Redshirt Freshman / Highlands Ranch, Colorado)
Keeley is just dying to get on the court. Redshirting is hard. Every redshirt player will say that by mid-season it’s hard just practicing every day. She had a really good spring. I think Keeley has the potential to be one our best outsides because she has a big arm, she’s very athletic, and she sees the court pretty well. Half the battle with Keeley is her understanding how good she can be.
#7 Jaela Zimmerman (6’2″ / Sophomore / Lincoln, Nebraska)
Zimm also has the potential to be a really great outside, in a different way than Keeley. Jaela is really long, but she is up there with the best passing outsides we’ve ever had. She may be the best passing outside we’ve ever had. She’s just really good from a passing standpoint. And I love what she does offensively. I think she is willing to take risks, and when she takes risks she’s really good. She’s got a pretty wide shot selection, and I think she’s potentially a glue type of kid. One of the things we’ve talked to her about is that she needs to be that kid who always has the same positive look on her face regardless of whether she is playing well or not, and I think she has really taken that to heart. She’s done a good job with that thus far this fall.
#8 Erica Kostelac (6’2″ / Junior / Chardon, Ohio)
Erica has been a great addition to the team since transferring from Cincinnati. She has a cannon for an arm. She just hits the ball really hard. We’ve been trying to work with her on a couple different shots. She’s got pretty good shots around the block, so we’ve been trying to work with her on using the block. That continues to get better and develop, and she has worked really hard on it. Both Keeley and Erica can play on either pin. Erica is pretty salty with her power — she just pounds the ball..
Middle Blockers/Right Side Hitters
#9 Kiana Schmitt (6’3″ / Freshman / Waunakee, Wisconsin)
I think Kiana’s upside is really big. She’s a great athlete, really long. She jumps extremely well and has good feet. With that said, she’s still getting used to the speed of the game. She’s fun because she has really good mind/body connection when coaches talk to her, and she wants to improve. I think she’s better this week than she was last week in a couple ways — her serve is much better, her attacking has more power, she’s spacing better. I think she is someone that will take a little time [to develop], but I told her that by mid-season she should be hopefully fighting for time. She’s got to work on being faster at reading the ball out of the setter’s hands. She’s got to do a better job closing. She’s got to hit a little bit harder. And she’s got to believe that she’s going to be great. That’s just a process for a lot of these freshmen.
#11 Annika Welty (6’3″ / Sophomore / Parkville, Missouri)
Annika had a great spring. We spent a lot of time working on the slide with her, and she really improved at it. Her blocking has continued to improve. I think Annika will fight for time both on the right side and the middle this year. What I tell her is she just needs to get a little bit more swagger. She needs to know how good she can be. Her potential continues to be really high. What she’s doing in practice we need to have translate into the games, and I think she is capable of doing that.
#19 Megan Ballenger (6’1″ / Senior / Ankeny, Iowa)
Ball does Ball really, really well. She was a captain last year, but I think it was more by example with occasional talking. I can tell this year that she is upping her communication. The thing that is impressive about Ball is she can be assertive and direct and intimidating, but the team affectionately calls her Mama Meg. She’s got a soft side that is really caring. That mix is hard for people to find. You usually find players that are really rough or are just going to be the person to put their arm around your back and love you up. Those are all great, but there are only a few people that can kind of do both. Ballenger can do both of those things. She’s really respected by her teammates for what she has done on and off the court.
#21 Naomi Hickman (6’4″ / Junior / Lawrence, Kansas)
When you think of Naomi you think of a quiet kid, but she is a fierce competitor. She is highly competitive and I love that about her. She wants to be great. She and Cole didn’t connect very well at Iowa State, and you can tell it’s driving her crazy — she’s been in the gym getting reps, and it’ll get there, they’ll be ok. Naomi is a massive, massive block. The issue has been that sometimes she’s out of balance off the set, so she doesn’t close as well. She has really worked on that and gotten a lot better. Her footwork continues to improve. She worked on the slide a lot this year and has improved on that offensively. We’ve also worked on using her more out of system, and I think she has gotten better at that. She continues to progress.