Hambly’s strategy with redshirting paying off

Illinois+middle+blocker+Maddie+Mayers+hits+the+ball+during+the+Alumni+Match+on+Saturday%2C+Aug.+23%2C+2014.+The+orange+and+blue+teams+tied+2-2.

Illinois middle blocker Maddie Mayers hits the ball during the Alumni Match on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. The orange and blue teams tied 2-2.

Before incoming freshmen can wear the Orange and Blue for the Illinois volleyball team, head coach Kevin Hambly would rather they wear red.

Hambly wishes he could redshirt all of his incoming freshmen and has had success with players who sat out their first seasons in Champaign.

“If I could redshirt every kid, I would be happy to,” Hambly said. “They don’t know what the heck they’re doing their freshman year. The game is moving way too fast.”

The two players who used non-medical redshirts on the roster are Jocelynn Birks and Maddie Mayers, although for entirely different reasons.

Birks’ first year with the team was in 2011, when the Illini already had two All-American outside hitters in Colleen Ward and Michelle Bartsch. While Birks was a rare case in that she had the ability to play at a high level, there simply wasn’t a spot for her to crack the rotation behind the two seniors.

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“We didn’t want to waste that year,” Hambly said. “But at the end of the year, I thought she was one of the best outsides in the country. So we were pretty happy about that because we didn’t waste a year.”

While Birks was buried on the depth chart, the coaches didn’t think Mayers was ready to contribute right away.

“Mayers wasn’t ready to play,” Hambly said. “She was a good athlete — a big, long kid — but we thought the year would be good for her to figure out how to play.”

“Coming into the Big Ten from high school and club is a huge jump,” Mayers added. “No one can be completely prepared for it. My redshirt year was great. I was able to get stronger, get quicker and watch our other middles Erin Johnson and Anna (Dorn) and see what it takes to be successful in the Big Ten.”

It paid off. Mayers was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on two separate occasions and started all but one game last season at middle blocker.

Opposite side hitter Ali Stark received a medical redshirt after playing in just six games her first season. Hambly has since called the injury “fortunate,” and Stark has been in the rotation ever since.

Hambly has played freshmen, however, whether out of choice or necessity. Sophomore Danielle Davis started 17 games last year as a freshman. Right side hitter Liz McMahon started 34 of 37 games as a true freshman in her first campaign in 2011.

Not even McMahon though, a two-time All-Big Ten selection, was ready right away to play.

“If you look at Lizzie’s numbers in the beginning of the year, in 2011, she was terrible,” Hambly said with a laugh. “We had to pull her in the first five, six matches because she just couldn’t hang.”

But, as time wore on, McMahon became more comfortable, culminating in five kills on eight swings in the fifth set of the team’s Final Four match against USC in 2011.

This season, the Illini have freshman Brandi Donnelly competing for a starting spot at libero. Although Hambly declined to announce the starter, he said the decision has been made internally and Donnelly was the libero for all four sets in the team’s intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, tallying 25 digs in the exhibition.

What made the difference between confusion and contribution for the freshman was her enrolling for the spring season and being allowed to practice and play exhibitions with the team for a whole semester before the season.

“The fact that Brandi played all spring gave her great opportunity to play this year,” Hambly said. “Early in the spring, there was no way she could compete at the spot for libero. She just wasn’t ready. But having that spring allowed her to prepare and now she’s got a great shot to start for us.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.