2009 Volleyball Season Preview

The 2009 Hood College volleyball team is starting the season with a clean slate. The Blazers have a new head coach, Jaime Pryor, who says her main goal for this season is “improvement.” Pryor wants her squad of nine to master new skills daily, making the Blazers a more competitive team. She has also recruited two new players to the team who should be major contributors this season.

Freshman Brittany Tribett and Brittany Lethbridge will bring competiveness and aggressiveness to the team following successful high school careers. Tribett, a 5-9 setter, graduated from Middletown High School where she led the Knights to their best season in school history during her senior year, leading the team to the regional finals.

“Brittany Tribett is a great leader on the court and as a setter she will bring much more consistency to the team,” said Pryor.
Lethbridge, a 5-8 middle hitter, hails from Francis Scott Key High School where she started the past two seasons and led the Eagles to back-to-back Carroll County championships.

“Brittany Lethbridge should contribute greatly to this team this upcoming season,” said Pryor.

In addition Pryor’s freshmen, her squad consists of two seniors, three juniors and two sophomores. They have proven to Pryor that they are very competitive and are determined to change the history of Hood volleyball. They have set high goals for this season and hope to finish in the top half of the Capital Athletic Conference.

Pryor’s captains will be senior Ashley Burns, junior Chelsea Weaver and sophomore Megan Heidel.

Burns lettered in 2006 and, after a year off, came back last season to amass 80 kills, 43 digs and 10 service aces.

Weaver, an outside hitter and defensive specialist, has played in a total of 102 sets over the 2007 and 2008 seasons. As a sophomore, she led the team with 154 digs and was fourth with 66 kills. This season, Weaver will inherit the role of libero to help keep up the team’s consistency in the area of ball control.

Heidel, an outside hitter, played in five sets last season. Due to an injury she saw limited action on the court, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to lead and encourage her teammates to stay focused. The Blazers have a strong set of leaders that will encourage the team to accomplish their goals.

Other contributors on the team are senior Leah Garland, juniors Kristan Hawkins and Kristina Straub and sophomore Laura Saad. Garland is the Blazers’ lone four-year senior and ended the 2008 season with 107 assists and 47 digs.

Hawkins, a right side and middle hitter, has racked up 116 kills in her two seasons in the blue and gray. Last season, she tied for the team lead in total blocks and listed second in service aces.

Straub, a setter and outside hitter, is a versatile athlete who will serve as more of attacker this season. She led the Blazers in assists each of the last two seasons and ranks fifth all-time (531) in that category.

Saad, an outside hitter and defensive specialist, lettered for Hood’s tennis team last year and will add depth to the Blazer lineup.

Pryor and the new-look Blazers travel to Gettysburg College Sept. 2 for their season opener. Hood’s first home match is slated for Sept. 15 against regional rival Johns Hopkins University.