New Ulm Cathedral hopes to take

advantage of its quickness

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- On the surface, this year's New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds look a lot like last year's. That's only at the surface, though.

Last season was a year of expectations not realized for Cathedral (12-11, 5-4 Tomahawk Conference). Dominated by seniors, the Greyhounds were victimized by a lack of height and seemed often bogged down by a deliberate offense that, at times, even seem to bore them.

This year, the Greyhounds are no taller, but they are quicker. That could be the difference.

"We have a lot of quickness, I think that helps us," said 5-foot-7 senior outside hitter Kari Franta. "We pick up a lot of balls because of our quickness. We're quick and we can use that to our advantage."

Cathedral coach Karan Whitmyer hopes that quickness will be a strength, and that the Greyhounds' speed will counter their inexperience.

"I think that can make a difference for us in certain situations," Whitmyer said.

The Greyhounds have only four returning letterwinners and only one returning starter -- 5-foot-7 senior middle blocker Tessa Hodapp, a starter since her sophomore year and Cathedral's second leading hitter last season. Junior Kristin Beranek saw some time at setter last season, but two other returning letterwinners -- seniors Kari Franta and Beth Hazuka (5-8 outside hitter) -- both have limited varsity experience.

Moving up from the junior varsity and vying for playing time will be several newcomers, including 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter Mary Sue Miheve, who gives the Greyhounds their only 6-footer. Prairie Hady (5-8 middle hitter) is a junior and Liesl Genelin -- a 5-foot-7 sophomore will be in a learning situation at setter. Jessica Lewis (5-6 outside hitter) is also a junior waiting to play her varsity match.

In addition to Miheve, three other seniors are also moving up to the varsity. Bryanna Balbach is a 5-foot-3 defensive specialist, Chandra Petersen a 5-foot-5 back row/outside hitter and Dee Wilfahrt a 5-foot-5 outside hitter.

The emphasis for the Greyhounds as they prepare for their season-opening nonconference home match tonight with Nicollet has been communication. One of the obstacles is Cathedral has a lot of shy girls, Whitmyer said, girls who aren't very talkative off the court much less on it in a pressure situation.

"The main thing is we got to try to talk more," Hodapp said. "We need to communicate with our setters, and that we're in the right spots when we cover hitters. ... The communication is very good right now."

But it has to get better. Whitmyer said the Greyhounds communicate very well, but it's in spurts. The players will be talking, then they'll hit a lull, she said, until someone revives them with a big hit or dig.

The Greyhounds' quickness and communication will be even more important because they don't have the go-to girls, or the big, dominating hitter that can set or change the tone of a game or match. Cathedral expects to hit by committee.

Whitmyer thinks that can work to the advantage of the Greyhounds, confusing defenses. Hitting by committee also banks on the percentages -- not every hitter is going to have a bad night on the same night.

"We trying to figure out who goes where, what to do," Franta said. "The first few games, it's not going to all come together right away. We still have to work on it. We've had practices, but it's not the same. We have to get into a game situation."