Everything in moderation, except when it comes to talent. Volleyball head coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said her main challenge this season will be picking the starting six.

“Right now we have a lot of really good competition on the court,” Moronu Alstrup said. “I think [the starting six] might change throughout the season, which is exciting, but obviously also a challenge for the coaching staff.”

Moronu Alstrup and Bryley Steinhilber, senior outside hitter from Kennedale, have both been pleased throughout the summer with how well the team is working together, especially with the large number of newcomers. 

“Everyone’s talked about how this team is the closest that we’ve ever been all four years that I’ve been here,” Steinhilber said, “and I think that’s definitely true.”

The two transfers who joined the team in the offseason, Sasha Stolter, redshirt sophomore from Quincy, Ohio, and Nieko Thomas, senior from West Hills, California, each play the middle position and have intensified the competitive nature of the team in practice, their coach said.

Six freshmen also joined the team during the summer and have exceeded expectations in how quickly they have adapted to the quicker pace of college athletics, Steinhilber said. 

In the month before conference play starts, the Wildcats will play in four tournaments, which will provide a better opportunity to test out different lineups and find the right rhythm before facing WAC opponents. 

To make the end-of-season tournament, the Wildcats will have to finish as one of the top eight teams in conference play. Moronu Alstrup thinks that in order to achieve this, the team needs to continue playing with the same effort and energy that they have shown throughout the summer, especially from the middle blocker position.

“We definitely want to run our offense through the middles, so it’s super important to us that our middles are always up in transition and ready to swing,” Moronu Alstrup said. “It’s also super important for the middles to have a good defensive game.”

The Wildcats ended last season with an 11-18 record, and hope to improve on their eighth place conference finish.

Consistency will be key for the team this season, Moronu Alstrup said. 

“It really doesn’t matter who’s on the other side of the court as long as we’re focusing on what we’re doing,” she said.