Ready to Strike

 

Ready to Strike

Volleyball coach Floyd Deaton pauses momentarily to analyze this year’s team.

“If I stay out of the way,” he says, “they could win a few matches.”

He’s joking, of course. Deaton coached the team to one of its best seasons ever last year, going 23-8 before losing a heartbreaking five-game match to George Washington for the Atlantic 10 Conference title. This year, though, the team could take that next step.

Atlantic 10 player-of-the-year Sara Bachus is back. So are all-conference hitter Jill Hampton and A-10 all-rookie team member Kimberly Cockerel. Add seniors Anna Yasuhara and Amanda Lang to the mix, and the only question mark, says Deaton, will be at setter. Freshman Molly Martin is expected to start amidst the upperclassmen. “They aren’t going to wait too long for her to get up to speed,” Deaton says. “How she responds could make or break us.” Bachus will remain the focal point, though, after being named conference player of the year. “That’s a pretty big tag,” Deaton says. “She snuck up on some people last year, but won’t be able to this year. But she’s ready. After each season she considered quitting volleyball because she did not want to play anymore. After last year, though, she couldn’t wait to play again. It’ll be interesting to see what she does with it. It could be scary.”

Her biggest competition for another player-of-the-year honor could come from her own teammate, Hampton. “We’ve got two of the top three players in the league,” Deaton says. “It all comes down to us playing the way we expect.”