The Chico State volleyball team may be young but it’s playing like a team full of veterans.
With one senior and five freshmen among a team of 12 players, the No. 25 ranked Chico State volleyball team has posted a 19-6 record overall and 10-5 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
“We’re young but it’s really fun and everyone on our team is really positive,” said captain and sole senior Gillian Heydorff. “We’re actually like weirdly close and are pretty much all together all the time.”
Wildcat head coach Cody Hein thinks this is the youngest team that has made the largest contribution in his seven years at Chico State.
“For young kids, they’re remaining really tough within games,” he said. “Things go south within the game and they are doing a good job at adjusting and staying tough, which is really rare for a young team.”
Freshman setter Sable Villaescusa was asked to take over running the offense after the departure of Erica Brick, Chico State’s career assists leader.
“I thought the setter position was where we were going to hurt the most because it’s impossible to replace Erica Brick,” Hein said. “But Sable has really made it a seamless transition.”
The ’Cats run a different style offense than they have in the past in order to cater to Villaescusa’s skills and she is learning quickly, Hein said.
Villaescusa ranks 28th in division II with 10.42 assists per set, which is second best among freshman setters, according to the statistics on ncaa.com.
Part of the success Villaescusa is having can be attributed to the outside hitting dynamic duo of Heydorff and sophomore Makenzie Snyder. The two have produced 62 percent of Chico State’s offense this season, according to the statistics on the Chico State athletic Web site.
Snyder’s 427 kills rank her second in division II and Heydorff ranks 19th in kills per set with 3.87 according to statistics on ncaa.com updated through Oct. 25.
“I feel like no matter where I am on the court or even if I give them a bad set, they’ll just kill it,” Villaescusa said. “I feel pretty confident in each of them and what they do and I’m pretty sure half the teams in the conferences are terrified of them.”
Freshman middle hitter Kayla Baumgardner was also asked to step into a starting role after junior Crystal Trifeletti, a second team All-CCAA selection in 2008, was sidelined with injury, Hein said.
The loss of six seniors from last season meant the five freshmen were going to make up the team and have to contribute if they wanted to make a playoff run, Baumgardner said.
“We wanted to prove to everyone that our young team can be good and I think we have surprised people,” she said.
With a young team, leadership is essential for success — a big reason Hein chose Heydorff to lead the team this year.
“Gill is the best captain I could have picked because, at heart, she’s a little kid and she’s a leader of a whole bunch of little kids,” Hein said. “But these girls love her. They love playing for their captain and I think that’s huge because peer influence really matters.”
The ’Cats are hoping their talent, leadership and positive team chemistry will propel them into their fourth-straight postseason berth.
T.J. Holmes can be reached at
tjholmes@theorion.com
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