Each week, AuburnUndercover.com will take a look at each Auburn sport in its season. Featured today is volleyball.
AUBURN – As Wade Benson enters his second season as head coach of Auburn's long-suffering volleyball team, he'll turn to a highly-ranked freshman class for help.
Auburn's recruiting class was ranked No. 26 in the nation. Three starters return, but many from that class will play key roles when the Tigers open their season today in the War Eagle Invitational.
Benson says the key to the season will be how rapidly nine freshmen mature. There are no seniors on the team, but juniors Sara Shanks, Lauren Mellor and Liz Crouch will provide leadership.
The three juniors have suffered through losing seasons and they have seen how other teams succeed. Benson says if the juniors can put into play what they have learned, Auburn will have an opportunity to be successful.
"We don't have a lot of elder statesmen or kids who have been around the SEC long,” Benson told AuburnUndercover.com. “(Our juniors) are going to be relied on a lot to help the youth get acclimated.”
Shanks says she is ready to help lead the Tigers, and she is ready to see what the new players can do on the court.
“I am really excited about this year,” she said. “We have a really big team in comparison to last year. That is exciting, because we will have a lot of depth and be able to have lots of competition during practice.”
Benson says there will definitely be no shortage of competition at each position. He says every player will be pushed, whether a returning starter, or not. He says that should be good for the team.
Crouch says she is ready to do what it takes to keep her starting spot at libero, or defensive specialist.
“(Competing for a spot) just makes you play better ,and in the back of your head you know you have to work hard and you can't take any second off, or you will be benched,” Crouch said. “I think, in all positions, people are having to fight and people are going to rise up to the challenge or not.”
Players rising to the challenge is what Benson says he wants to see.
“I am not looking for players to be in the program who back down from competition, so we will see how that all rounds out,” he said. “All the players and all the positions are going to be pushed. That is the greatest thing about this season. They are all going to have competition every day.”
Benson says he is not focused on a set number of wins and losses coming off a 6-25 season.
“I tell them, 'Don't worry about the wins and losses, worry about getting better, and the wins will come,” Benson said. “Just being a better player today than you were yesterday and adding something to our growth on a consistent basis personally and as a team will be really important to this group.”
INSIDER NOTES:
OPENING WEEKEND: The Tigers open the season at home with the War Eagle Invitational this weekend. Auburn opens the tournament against Alabama A&M at noon today. UAB plays A&M at 3 p.m. Auburn takes on UAB at 10 a.m. Saturday and plays Alabama A&M at 1 p.m. Saturday.
FOURTH IN WEST: Auburn was picked to finish fourth in the West Division by SEC coaches. The pick is the Tigers' best in at least nine years.
EASY TO SELL: Benson said Auburn is not a hard sell in recruiting.
“They are willing to take a chance to come to a school that had a lot of positive things going for it and hoping the volleyball program will progress like the coaches feel it will,” Benson said.
