The Redhawks participated in four days of outside competition without leaving the city of Seattle, hosting Central Washington and Western Washington while making short trips to face the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific. In those contests, head coach Shannon Ellis picked up on some things that the team still needed to work on, but she was pleased with the overall performance of her returning players.
"It was really fun to go and play someone besides ourselves. It was good to see our players get competitive and try to apply the things they are learning into the game situations. We have made some strides, but we have a long ways to go. We want to be competitive against the top teams, so we need to continue to play faster, continue to improve our eyes, and change the way we think," Ellis said.
Coming off an 18-13 mark in the 2010 fall season, Seattle U loses three players to graduation, but still is able to put experienced players on the floor. For outside hitter Sarah Jaeckel, the ability to play with seasoned veterans has helped her game improve from the moment she stepped onto the North Court last August at the beginning of fall practice.
"Being able to play with and compete against top players pushed me to another level, and I feel like I was able to do things I never thought I could do because there were experienced players around me with a better court sense helping me reach my potential," said Jaeckel.
Returning for Seattle University next season will be players, besides Jaeckel, such as Cristin Richards, who set the single-season kills record and is approaching the career record; Jordan Keller, the all-time blocks leader for the Redhawks; and Megan Augustavo, who has shown her versatility in the spring by playing at both setter and defensive specialist. Karina Miastkowska is on track to be back in the fall after suffering a knee injury suffered in the first match of the 2010 season, while Kaytlyn Dill returns to the court after redshirting in 2010.
"It is wonderful having Kaytlyn back. She is a very humble, coachable player, and it is a lot of fun to work with her," said Ellis. "She is also a really hard hitter, so just having her back in training is good, as she brings a lot to practice. She feels a little rusty, having sat out for a while, but she's really excited to be back, and the team has responded well to her presence on the court."
With only a week or so left in the spring session, Ellis and her coaching staff is guiding the players through the final tasks set for the time together. She will meet with each player at the end of the practice season and talk to them about what needs to be done between now and August for both the individual player and the team to be successful.
"Hopefully the team comes back in great shape, jumping high, strong, but not overtrained. We want them to play as much as possible to get as many touches on the ball as they can. Their eyes need to stay in shape, so they can see the ball coming at them. We are going to give them some goals before the summer," said Ellis.
The 2011 Seattle University volleyball schedule is being finalized and will be released to the public soon.