After struggling through a 4-23 season and failing to make the playoffs, the University of Maine volleyball team isn’t just out to prove it’s much improved. The Black Bears are focused on winning a conference title.

Given that the 4-3 Black Bears have already equaled last season’s victory total, there seems to be good reason for their optimism.

“We were picked second to last in a preseason poll, but I really do believe we have a chance to win the conference championship this year,” said head coach Lynn Atherley, now in her fifth season. “We’re playing very determined right now. We have a lot of seniors on our team and they’re playing like they’re on a mission.”

The Bears are loaded with senior experience this year on a roster which lost no one to graduation.

Chief among their seven seniors are outside hitters Lindsay Allman and Laura Goettsch, who transferred from Jacksonville State University, as well as middle hitter Brittany Kiehl.

“I’d say we have a lot of power offensively. We have a lot of different players who can put the ball away,” said Atherley. “This is absolutely our strongest hitting team I’ve had since I’ve been here.

“It gives us a lot of options up front with our balance because we have so many people who can put points away.”

Allman isn’t unusually tall at 5-foot-9 but leads the team with 85 kills, while Goettsch has 71 and Kiehl 57. Allman is also first on the team with 12 service aces and second with 87 digs and 16 blocks.

“Lindsay is a leader for us and one who does it all. Her ball control and defense are great and she’s a strong attacker,” Atherley said. “Goettsch has great size and power and is an intimidating presence.”

The 6-3 Goettsch has 69 digs and 15 blocks while the 5-10 Kiehl has 13 digs and a team-leading 26 blocks.

As solid as the Bears are up front, Atherley would still like to see improvement in the unit’s blocking capability, which means making better reads on opposing teams’ kill shots.

Other standouts include libero (defensive specialist) Ashlee Wright, a 5-6 senior, and senior setter and outside hitter Jessica Wolfenden.

Wright is leading the team with 98 digs and has seven service aces to her credit. Wolfenden leads the Bears with a whopping 283 set assists and also has 51 digs.

“Jessica’s become a great court leader for us. She’s like the quarterback,” Atherley said. “Ashlee has become a very consistent passer.”

Not all the key players are seniors as lone freshman Sam Andreozzi has come on strong of late.

“She came off the bench and had an unbelievable performance against Kent State, hitting .675, and has improved faster than any freshman I’ve seen come into a program,” Atherley explained.

The Bears may have been picked to finish second to last in the America East preseason poll, but they’re not paying that much heed.

“I don’t think we had as much confidence last year as we do now,” said Atherley. “And this is a very driven group, with a deep bench and versatile lineup.”

Next up for Maine is a weekend tournament against a tough University of Buffalo squad. Then follows Big East member Connecticut on Sept. 20.

aneff@bangordailynews.net

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