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V O L L E Y B A L L
2013 OUTLOOK
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After a busy offseason, Louisiana Tech volleyball will return to the court in 2013 with plenty of fresh faces to kick off a new era as the team begins its first season as a Conference USA member. Despite losing just two seniors from the 2012 team, head coach Adriano de Souza brought in nine new student athletes to partner with the four players he returns from last season’s roster. With a full season under his belt and a team in the process of growth and change, de Souza and the Lady Techsters are looking to build on a productive spring and offseason and hope to enter LA Tech’s inaugural season in Conference USA with renewed confidence. “In September, we will start our first season in Conference USA,” de Souza said. “Until then, we will be training every day to fine tune our game and train several lineup possibilities that will help us in the process of learning to develop our team performance this season. I hope non-conference competition goes well, that we learn a lot from it. The team is very different and I hope that by our first C-USA match, we are able to impact the game and compete well.” Nine new squad members highlight the 2013 team, as this year’s team consists of three junior college transfers, two Louisiana Tech students who made the team via tryouts last spring and four true freshmen. Jessie Ely, Xzache Mathis and Rebecca Redgen make up the transfers on this year’s roster and are expected to provide ample playing time for a Louisiana Tech volleyball team in need of skilled, experienced players. Last spring, de Souza added two sophomores to his roster in Katy McFadden and Isabella Rosania after the two outside hitters expressed interest in joining the program in order to make a difference on and off the court. Since then, the two have done just that and more. “Our goal is to gradually train the lineup combinations with our outside and right side hitters that benefit the team first,” he said. “We hope diversity can help us in our game style and also help maintain our hitters’ health.” While the 2013 roster is filled with brand new names and faces, fans will be able to recognize four players from 2012 who will make their return to the court to partner with the newcomers. Caitlin Germany is the lone senior who will partner with nine newcomers to continue to develop the Lady Techsters volleyball program in 2013. Germany is a three-year letterwinner and one of two upperclassmen Tech returns this season. Junior setter Maria Coelho is the third and final upperclassman returning to de Souza’s roster after a breakthrough sophomore campaign where she averaged 8.36 assists per set and was named All-Louisiana Honorable Mention for her 878 assists over the course of the season. The final two letterwinners will make their return after successful freshmen seasons as sophomores. Fenix Calderon and Dalane Guidry will look to build on the numbers they put up in 2012 as true freshmen in their return this season. “I expect a lot from the returning players,” de Souza said. “I have worked many hours with them explaining what my goals are and vision for the Louisiana Tech volleyball program since the day I arrived on campus in March of 2012. I hope they have captured all the information we have shared. If they apply what I have prepared them to do since last fall, they will be doing the job I expect from them in order to help our program move fast in the right direction.” Louisiana Tech will open the 2013 campaign Aug. 30-31 at the UTA Hilton Invitational in Arlington, Texas with three matches scheduled against Grambling State, Abilene Christian and UT Arlington over the course of opening weekend. The Lady Techsters’ home schedule begins with a 7 p.m. match Sept. 3 versus UAPB in the Thomas Assembly Center, while the team opens Conference USA play Sept. 27 as Tech plays host to UTEP.
Outside/Right Side Hitters The Lady Techsters will see the addition of six new outside and right side hitters on this season’s roster. Included in those six additional players are two junior college transfers in Rebecca Redgen and Xzache Mathis, as well as freshman Marta Monne, all of whom will be used to help bring experience to a rebuilt program. Redgen, a native of Gladstone, Australia, comes to LA Tech from Florida State College at Jacksonville where she played two seasons with the Blue Wave and earned Most Improved Player in her first season in 2011. She was named captain of the squad in 2012 and MVP at the conclusion of her second season at FSCJ where she earned First Team Mid-Florida All-Conference honors in her final season with the Blue Wave. Redgen will spend time as an outside hitter as well as on the right side for the Lady Techsters this season. Mathis played two seasons at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas before transferring to Louisiana Tech. While at Navarro, Mathis, a Longview, Texas native, helped lead the Bulldogs to a 15-12 mark in 2011 and an 18-11 record in 2012 as an outside hitter on the squad. Mathis will also see time on the outside and right side for de Souza this coming season. A native of Varese, Italy, Monne will see ample playing time as a true freshman because of her knowledge of the game and the volleyball culture she originates from, de Souza said. The 5-10 outside hitter came to Louisiana Tech from Barbara Melzi in Italy.
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LA Tech also returns sophomore Fenix Calderon, a player who will rotate in as an outside hitter for the squad this season. Calderon is coming off a freshman campaign that saw her record 132 kills and average 1.97 in the 67 played last season. The sophomore will see playing time on both the outside and right side this coming season. De Souza and the Lady Techsters will also add two sophomores and a freshmen duo to this year’s team at the outside hitter position to finish out the attackers on the 2013 roster. Katy McFadden and Isabella Rosania will be welcomed additions to this year’s team as sophomore outside hitters from Rock Hill, S.C., and Stockton, Calif., respectively. McFadden prepped at South Pointe High School in South Carolina under head coach Mike Deyton where she was named All-Region and All-State in the Palmetto State over the course of her high school career. McFadden also spent time as a member of the Rock Hill Volleyball Club. Rosania, a California native, graduated in 2012 from Lincoln High School in Stockton where she was a three-sport athlete lettering in volleyball, soccer and swimming. She was named the 2012 team MVP for Volleyball and also the 2009 and 2012 MVP for her high school soccer team in her time at Lincoln. On the court, Rosania compiled a .359 hitting percentage for Lincoln, while also totaling 104 saves in goal on the pitch. Angela Papach, a true freshman from Wilmington, N.C., is also set to see playing time as both an outside hitter and on the right side. Papach comes to LA Tech from John T. Hoggard High School where she was a two-sport athlete in volleyball and basketball. Papach was named a Top 10 Hitter in district 4-A in
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