Laband leads Jacket attack

The volleyball team has started spring practice and looks to rebuild after a successful 2004 season that saw the Jackets in the sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

The Jackets finished last season undefeated in the ACC and look to continue the success they have encountered over the past few years, but Tech faces quite a challenge to sustain this level of excellence with the loss of five seniors who had outstanding careers.

" We have a number of new young players who will be playing key roles for us next season and there ' s no better way to gain experience than during the spring season. This also gives our returning starters the chance to develop stronger leadership roles which will carry over to next year, " said Volleyball Head Coach Bond Shymansky.

Tech ' s recruiting class for next year features four players named to the Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 list, a compilation of the best 50 high school seniors from 2004. Laura DeMichelis, Talisa Kellogg, Callie Miller and Allie Niekamp all made the list. Only four schools in the nation had four or more players named to the list, putting Tech in elite company.

DeMichelis a 5 ' 10 " outside hitter who enrolled at Tech in January and is currently practicing with the team. DeMichelis and current freshman Lindsey Gray will be called upon to fill the outside hitter positions that All-Americans Lauren Sauer and Lynnette Moster leave behind.

" You really can ' t replace Lauren [Sauer] and Lynette [Moster] because they have so much experience, " said current junior setter Lindsey Laband. " But Lindsey [Gray] and Laura [DeMichelis] are really physical and really good blockers. They ' ll create good names for themselves here at Tech. "

Laband certainly knows about replacing star players. Last spring she was trying to fill the shoes of Kele Eveland, an All-American setter for the Jackets. Laband had an extremely successful fall campaign, leading the ACC in assists.

In addition to DeMichelis, who is now working with the Jackets, the three other recruits will bring impressive resumes with them to Tech next fall.

Kellogg is a 6 ' 1 " outside hitter and a member of the 2004 USA Junior National team. She helped the Central Ohio Volleyball Club to a seventh place finish at the Junior Olympics in 2004.

Miller is a 6 ' 1 " middle blocker who was a member of the 2003 and 2004 USA Volleyball Junior National A-2 team, one of the best teams in the nation.

Niekamp, a 6 ' 0 " setter, was also a member of the USA Volleyball Junior National A-2 team in 2003 and 2004.

Laband stresses the importance of practicing in the spring season. " In the spring season you want to start building your team and establish your foundation so that the new players can come in the fall and fit right in. It ' s a good time to build your team confidence, " she said.

The setter in volleyball is often compared to the quarterback in football, and Laband will once again be responsible for coordinating the Jackets ' fast-paced style of play, something they have been known for ever since Shymansky became head coach in 2000.

" Passing runs our whole offense, " Laband said. As a result a lot of the spring season concentrates on the communication and timing that is needed to properly execute. As setter it is especially critical that Laband gets to know the strengths and weaknesses of her teammates.

" Our coaches have been concentrating on the little things. We broke our offense down in the beginning in order to focus on the little things, to work out all the kinks. It ' s been very challenging to start fresh, but we are making great strides, " Laband said.

Although the team will be replacing many key players, the coaches are not lowering their expectations for the season.

" They ' ve made us dig deeper and push harder to have another successful season. They ' ve made us take challenges, especially the freshmen. "

" They ' ve been put to the wire and they ' ve done a good job, " Laband said of the younger members. " They have definitely stepped up. "

Laband is looking forward to working with the new squad and playing the first match of next year in front of the Jacket faithful.

Although the Jackets lost many players from last year ' s team, Tech still has plenty of reasons to be excited. In addition to Laband and Gray, Abby Showers and Jennifer Randall, key members of last year ' s team, also return for the Jackets along with a pair of outstanding sophomore middle blockers in Nikki Kaminskas and Ulrike Stegemann.

" I ' m excited for our first game in the gym to see how the fans react to our new players, " Laband said. " We have new members but we ' re still the same Georgia Tech team. "