Hoyas Lose Two on Road

Hoya Staff Writer Tuesday, September 12, 2006 Lindsay Anderson/The Hoya

Women’s volleyball Head Coach Arlisa Hagan may be barely three weeks into her rookie season, but she has already spent almost a year on the Hilltop. Hired in November 2005 to replace seven-year veteran Li Liu, who resigned at the end of the season, Hagan hopes to reverse the Hoyas’ recent fortunes. Liu lead the Hoyas to a disappointing 6-22 record (2-12 in Big East play) during her final season despite an overall winning record, 110-103, for her career. Nevertheless, after spending spring workouts with Hagan and after the arrival of a fresh class of recruits all hand-picked by Hagan and her assistants, last fall is already history. Or so the team hopes. Continuing its theme of focusing on the future, this year’s squad is going to certainly look to the experience on its bench, but also expects to rely on what Hagan dubbed an extremely talented freshman class. The frosh lineup includes two “versatile” outside hitters in Dana Dumas and Kortney Robinson, beach volleyball Junior Olympic gold medalist outside hitter Jessica Hardy, “athletic and energetic” middle blocker Courtney Cohen and middle blocker Kiersten McKoy. Hagan said she was particularly excited about Dumas and Robinson since their versatility would allow the team to present different line-ups to different teams preventing predictability. Providing the backbone for the freshmen-heavy team — five of the 13 players are freshmen compared to just three sophomores, two juniors and three seniors — will be co-captains senior middle blocker Annie Conner and junior outside hitter Katie Nulty. Nulty lead the team in digs last year totaling 313 while Conner, a captain last year as well, posted 204 kills and 83 blocks for the season. At 6-foot-3, senior right-side hitter Jessica George, one of the best athletes on the team according to Hagan, will also be a force to reckon with. Not only has Hagan been impressed with the team, the team has been equally impressed with their new coach. “[Hagan] does a great job of bring in a high level of intensity from her experience working with bigger schools,” Connor said. “She’s much more vocal on and off the court and more strategic when it comes to matches. She has a game plan.” Despite what seems like a wealth of talent, the women were ranked 11th of 15 Big East teams in an August poll by Big East coaches. Nevertheless, that is two places higher than the 13th place a season ago. The low expectations do not bother Hagan. “Our schedule is fantastic,” she said. “We get to take on some of the toughest teams on our home court.” Indeed, the Hoyas will face Marquette on Sept. 29, University of South Florida on Oct. 14 and No. 1 Notre Dame on Nov. 3, all at McDonough Gymnasium. Hagan said she hopes to pack McDonough with students in support of the team during those games, particularly against USF. Despite the hype, it may take more than a new coach and five freshmen to exorcise the technical demons that have plagued the team in the recent past. The 2006 Hoyas currently stand at 2-4, with wins against George Mason and Wright State, and losses versus GWU, American, Virginia and Eastern Carolina. The Hoyas next take on the University of California Irvine and Stanford University at the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, Calif., on Sept. 14-15.