Volleyball looking to win without Wustrack

By Jonathan Berkon

JOHN YI/YH Volleyball will look to capture the Ivy League crown with only two seniors on the roster.

As Peg Scofield prepares for her fourteenth year as Yale's women's volleyball head coach, she must make do without Rosie Wustrack, BR '99, the best player in Ivy League history, according to Scofield.

Wustrack graduated last spring as the Bulldogs' all-time leader in kills, service aces, blocks and hitting percentage. Her personal accomplishments rival those of any Eli athlete in the past decade. Besides earning Yale's MVP award in each of her four years, Wustrack won the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 1995 and the Ivy League Player of the Year twice, in 1996 and 1997. After making the All-Ivy second team as a freshman, she was a unanimous selection for the first team for the last three years. Her teammates and coach remember her as a tireless worker, a great person and a powerful off-court presence. Clearly, the team cannot replace Wustrack's ability to dominate or the sense of confidence that she provided. With only two seniors returning, it would seem that leadership might be a problem. However, Coach Scofield remains confident that her captain, Erica Tarin, CC '00, along with a skilled junior class, can guide the Bulldogs through the first year of the post-Wustrack era.

If any current player could be expected to fill Wustrack's shoes on the court, then it is undoubtedly Colette Fitzgerald, SY '01. The powerful middle-blocker was an honorable mention All-Ivy selection during her first two years at Yale. This year, if the Elis hope to succeed, Fitzgerald will have to continue to expand her leadership role. "Colette is clearly one of the best middle-blockers around," Scofield said. "She is extremely powerful and so much more consistent than previous years."

Fitzgerald had an array of other strong statistics last year. She was second on the team in kills with 262 and blocks with 110. Her hitting percentage of .302 ranked fourth in the Ivy League, and her 1.16 blocks-per-game was third. She had her best performance of the year in Yale's devastating 3-2 loss to Princeton in the Ivy Tournament where she collected 20 kills and 10 blocks.

Captain Tarin realizes that this is Fitzgerald's team. "With Rosie there, Colette never really got the attention that she deserved," Tarin said. "Now, we are looking at her on the court to deliver." Yet Tarin also believes that leadership rests on the shoulders of the upperclassmen. "Rosie's loss will not be a burden but instead a positive because her inspiration and ability to lead will carry over to the returning players this years," Tarin said. "Now, the juniors, who wanted more of a leadership role last year, are able to rise to that position. This will be a more cohesive unit." Scofield says it is too early to know who the team's leader will be, but she does not consider the lack of seniors to be a serious concern. "We have a team philosophy that leaders lead, not just seniors," Scofield said.

The fact that there are so many potential leaders illustrates the immense depth that Scofield has in her arsenal. She does not have a set lineup because she sees so many players ready to contribute. Aside from Fitzgerald, Scofield points to two other players who could anchor the squad. Setter Aileen Daly, SY '01, who will inherit the full-time position, from Sarahliz Braugh, JE '98, has improved immensely. She contributed 486 assists last year in only 47 games and displayed her potential with a remarkable 70-assist game against Dartmouth. Another potential star is fellow junior Stephanie McMahon, TC '01, a powerful and talented right-side hitter who finished tenth in the league last year with 0.73 blocks per game and also recorded 117 kills and 117 digs. Steady outside hitter Lesley Coben, BK '00, and Tarin, a defensive specialist, provide experience. Outside hitter Vanessa Herald, ES '02, a rookie of the year candidate last year until she broke her arm, and middle blocker Carissa Abbott, SM '02, add athleticism to the lineup.

Players felt that this year's training camp was the most strenuous ever. Scofield, whose 248-138 overall record and 57-33 league record make her Yale's all-time winningest coach in volleyball, hopes that this might be the year when the Elis manage to win it all. "We have been so close, it has been right at our fingertips the last two years," Tarin said. Though last year's 21 wins and third place finish were unqualified successes, both coach and captain acknowledge a frustration that has translated into harder work in practice this year. Many of the players practiced together in the off-season and even more worked to improve their individual games.

Can Yale win the Ivy League? Tarin and Scofield believe that they are one of the teams to beat, along with powerhouses Princeton and Dartmouth, and defending champion Brown. But Scofield realizes that the 1999 Bulldogs still have something to prove. "People around the league may overlook us now that Rosie is gone," she said. "With our sophomore and junior classes, though, I would still be frightened of us." Yet can the 1999 Yale volleyball team give the league reason to believe that a Rosie-less team deserves to be feared? That question can only be answered with time.

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