RAPID CITY - There is no need to read between the lines when Beth Honaker talks about her team. The South Dakota School of Mines head volleyball coach has high expectations for her senior-laden squad, and she is not hiding them.est," Honaker said as Dickinson looks for its ninth straight DAC title. "The top three could finish in any order."
"I think I am more critical on my team than anybody, but my expectations are ceiling high right now," she said. "We are not there yet - no one is - we have a long way to go, but with the people we have back and the different kinds of skills they bring we are looking really, really good."
The Hardrockers finished last season in a tie for third place in the Dakota Athletic Conference at 9-5 and had a 23-6 mark overall. But with six seniors leading the team, Honaker is not putting anything past her team. Dickinson State, the defending conference champion, and Black Hills State were both picked to finish ahead of the Hardrockers this season, which the team will use as fuel in 2008.
"We played Dickinson and BH this weekend in a scrimmage and I think the conference is up for grabs to be hon
Mines' defense will be the team's foundation once again this season thanks to senior libero Jenny Hiykel.
"She will be in the match at every point because we are setting up our entire defense around her," Honaker said. "We always have and we probably always will if we ever have a libero like her again."
Hiykel likes what she has seen from her team early on and believes it will serve them well throughout the season.
"This team is one team," she said. "Last year there were a lot of cliques, but this year we are just one team."
Ashley Kauffman brings a big hitter to the outside for Mines and draws praise from her coach who said her hitting is flawless entering the season. Katherine Hanson is the team's other senior hitter who will play opposite of Kauffman.
The biggest threat for Mines this season may come in the form of freshman hitter Madisen Lane. The Fort Collins, Colo., product draws big praise from her coach for her play.
"She will be our big outside and terminates nearly every ball she touches," Honaker said. "I am voting for freshman of the year right now because she has a lot of potential and she could be the next big thing here."
Lane gives Mines the one really big hitter it was missing last season to intimidate opponents with her strength and effectiveness.
The biggest area of concern for SDSM&T entering the season can be found at the setter position. Senior Tessa Howe, who averaged nearly 11 assists a game last year, is no longer with the team after being ruled academically ineligible putting a pair of freshmen in the spotlight.
Becky Keilholz and Reanna Roberson are now in charge of getting the ball to the Mines hitters as the team transitions from a 5-1 offense to a 6-2 attack.
"It is the offense I have been wanting to run for three years now, but we haven't had the people to run it," said Honaker who ran the same offense in college at Northern Michigan University. "I am excited because it is a very tough offense to play defense against."
Honaker believes her young setters will be able to run the offense effectively.
"Both of them are skilled, talented and they love to learn," Honaker said. "I think we will be OK, but right now our big concentration is serve and pass. We absolutely have to pass better than any team on the floor. If we can pass better and serve tougher we are going to side out more than the other team."
SDSM&T has plans on making the national tournament this season, and in order to make sure her team is prepared for that kind of run Honaker will test her squad with a tough opening few weeks on the schedule.
"The first five weeks of the season are tough because we travel a lot and play a lot of teams that should be ranked in the top 25 to see where we are at and how realistic our goal is," she said.
The Hardrockers open up play Friday in Dickinson, N.D.
