Coming off their most successful season in the program’s NCAA history, the Simon Fraser University Clan has been picked to finish fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Volleyball Coaches Poll.
Simon Fraser finished fifth in the conference in 2014 with 11-7 record and was 17-9 overall record, its first winning season since joining the NCAA in 2010.
“We have some great athletes and a lot of potential,” said Clan head coach Gina Schmidt, who enters her third season on the Burnaby Mountain campus. “With our returning players there is now an expectation of doing well, and even though we graduated several seniors, we have a great core and I’m looking forward to seeing how our new players mix in.”
The Clan has added five new players to the squad.
“We have a lot of new faces and we will see how all the pieces fit together through training camp,” continued Schmidt in a Clan press release. “We will use fall camp to lay down the ground work for the rest of the season in terms of the team work, systems and fundamentals.”
Simon Fraser’s 17-9 record was an improvement by six wins over 2013, thanks in part to a defense that held opponents to a .162 hitting percentage.
"We have a solid defensive core returning so we will be hard to score on, and if we can get our offense clicking too, we will be a tough team to play,” said Schmidt.
Simon Fraser returns four starters, led by libero Alison McKay. The junior was a member of the Canadian National B Team this summer, while finishing fourth in the Great Northwest conference in digs per set (5.27). Schmidt considers Mckay one of the top liberos in the conference.
Junior outside hitter Devon May is Simon Fraser’s top returning offensive player, finishing 2014 with 2.34 kills per set. Schmidt is looking for sophomore Christine Howlett to play a larger offensive role from the right side and she is counting on the experience of senior Jessica Young to compliment Devon May on the left side.
“Christine had a great spring and she is capable of scoring from all positions in the front row,” said Schmidt.
Senior Danielle Curtis will provide experience as the team’s setter along with junior, Tamara Nipp. Curtis split time at the position last year while Nipp red-shirted.
Of the newcomers, Schmidt is expecting junior outside hitter Emma Jennings, who transferred from the University of Toronto, to find a role within the squad and for freshman middle blocker Tessa May to get significant playing time alongside sophomore Madison Power.
Simon Fraser will have to replace a big hole with the graduation of middle blocker Madeline Hait, who finished second in the conference in blocks (1.17 per set) and sixth in hitting percentage (.291). Hait was named the program's first conference first-team all-star. Other seniors who graduated were Brooklynn Gould-Bradbury, Kelsey Robinson and Amanda Renkema.
The 2015 Great Northwest volleyball season commences on Thursday, Sept. 3, with Simon Fraser participating in the Hawaii Pacific Invitational in Honolulu. Conference play begins on Sept. 17, when SFU hosts Seattle Pacific in the West Gym.
Alaska Anchorage is picked to win the conference by Great Northwest coaches. The Seawolves earned five of 11 possible first place votes, picking up 92 points in a vote that saw the first four teams separated by just eight points. Defending champion Northwest Nazarene is picked second with 85 points. Central Washington and Western Washington tied for third in the poll, receiving 84 points apiece.
Alaska Anchorage last won a GNAC title in 2009. They have finished no worse than fourth in conference play since. Their 15-3 conference record included two losses to Northwest Nazarene, who won their first Great Northwest title after being picked to finish third. The two programs led a banner season for the Great Northwest that saw four of the league’s 10 teams advance to the NCAA Division II West Regional.
Two GNAC squads enter the season ranked in AVCA Division II Coaches Top-25 preseason poll.
Northwest Nazarene is ranked No. 20 after finishing 2014 ranked 16th. Western Washington, which was ranked as high as ninth earlier last year, enters the season ranked No. 24. Alaska Anchorage was among 22 other teams receiving votes (57 points).
