2008 Woodie Awards
Petak set to handle primary setting duties
Brent Foster
Issue date: 8/17/08 Section: Sports
The Bulldogs lost just one senior from last season's squad, setter Amanda Holliday. But the 'Dogs aren't expecting to miss a beat as sophomore Ashley Petak and a host of other Bulldogs look to fill the void left by Holliday.
Head coach Jason Skoch said there are areas in which the setter position will be stronger this season and areas that it will need improvement.
"With all respect to Amanda, Ashley is a great setter and runs the court a little bit different," Skoch said. "The setter that replaces Amanda, what we are losing is great defense. The setting was okay, but the defense was awesome. The two kids that are fighting for that other spot need to have that kind of tenacity. Right now they don't have it because they don't have a lot of experience."
Skoch said it will take work during practice to get the setters to commit to defense.
"Amanda put a lot of pride in her defense," Skoch said. "These girls haven't gotten to that yet. They put a lot of pride in their setting and not their defense. That's what we are working a lot on in practice already."
To illustrate the importance of setting, the five teams from the MIAA that qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2007 also finished in the top five in the conference in assists.
Petak was solid offensively last season seeing time in all 42 matches and recording 943 assists, three more than Holliday.
However, Holliday averaged nearly 0.5 more digs per game than Petak.
Holliday, who did not see much action until her senior season, finished ninth on Truman's all-time career assist list with more than 1,100.
Even with solid seasons from Holliday and Petak, the Bulldogs finished fourth in assists and seventh in digs in the MIAA.
Despite the middle-of-the-pack finish in those statistics and the loss of Holliday, Petak said she thinks the team will be fine at setter.
Junior Krysta Tholen will vie for time at setter this season after playing in 10 matches last season. Also contending for playing time at setter is incoming freshman Kylie Easlon. She had nearly 3,000 assists and 275 service aces during her high school career.
Head coach Jason Skoch said there are areas in which the setter position will be stronger this season and areas that it will need improvement.
"With all respect to Amanda, Ashley is a great setter and runs the court a little bit different," Skoch said. "The setter that replaces Amanda, what we are losing is great defense. The setting was okay, but the defense was awesome. The two kids that are fighting for that other spot need to have that kind of tenacity. Right now they don't have it because they don't have a lot of experience."
Skoch said it will take work during practice to get the setters to commit to defense.
"Amanda put a lot of pride in her defense," Skoch said. "These girls haven't gotten to that yet. They put a lot of pride in their setting and not their defense. That's what we are working a lot on in practice already."
To illustrate the importance of setting, the five teams from the MIAA that qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2007 also finished in the top five in the conference in assists.
Petak was solid offensively last season seeing time in all 42 matches and recording 943 assists, three more than Holliday.
However, Holliday averaged nearly 0.5 more digs per game than Petak.
Holliday, who did not see much action until her senior season, finished ninth on Truman's all-time career assist list with more than 1,100.
Even with solid seasons from Holliday and Petak, the Bulldogs finished fourth in assists and seventh in digs in the MIAA.
Despite the middle-of-the-pack finish in those statistics and the loss of Holliday, Petak said she thinks the team will be fine at setter.
Junior Krysta Tholen will vie for time at setter this season after playing in 10 matches last season. Also contending for playing time at setter is incoming freshman Kylie Easlon. She had nearly 3,000 assists and 275 service aces during her high school career.
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