2017 VB Preview: Middle Blockers
8/18/2017 11:15:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The 2017 Sam Houston State Bearkat volleyball season is nearly upon us, with Coach Brenda Gray's group set to open up the year August 25 at the Texas A&M Invitational.
This is the third of a four-part preview, position-by-position of this year's squad. The Kats boast three preseason first team all-league choices and were picked to finish third in the Southland in the league's annual preseason poll.
MIDDLE BLOCKER NOTABLES
Returning: Taylor Cunningham, Amanda Gooch
Newcomers: Courtney Littlefield
HUNTSVILLE – Coach Brenda Gray's team has the luxury of having its top four hitters back for the 2017, and included in that could be the top pair of middle blockers the Southland Conference has to offer.
The duo of Taylor Cunningham and Amanda Gooch combined for over 500 kills and 170 blocks as sophomores, hitting .290 between them in 2016. With another year under their belt, those numbers could soar even higher as they turn to upper classmen this season.
Cunningham, an ultra-athletic middle from Huntsville, saw a big jump from her freshman to sophomore seasons with her attack percentage going from .161 to .279, along with big increases in both her kills and blocks per set. She saved her best for last, closing out the season strong and hitting .444 in her last five matches of the season.
Her most impressive stretch came in the Southland Conference Tournament where she was on fire from the very start and earned her way onto the all-tournament team in leading the Kats to the championship match with wins over Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin. In those wins she went for 24 kills on just 40 swings without an error, and even posted 14 kills with just two misfires on 36 swings in the title bout against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“Taylor has the brightest future of anyone on the team without a doubt, and she just keeps getting better and better,” Gray said. “I believe she can play all six rotations because of how quickly she reacts to balls, and that really speeds us up as a team. She really is a finisher too, and I think when you look at her, everyone in the league is going to try to stop her from getting hot, which is very hard to do.”
Cunningham's big sophomore campaign earned her second team all-conference honors after averaging 2.52 kills and 0.86 blocks per set and she will enter this season as one of three preseason all-conference first team nods on the Bearkat roster.
Alongside Cunningham at the net is Gooch, who is one of the most steady players the Kats boast. She was fourth on the team with 1.72 kills per set and also added in 0.66 blocks per set. Gooch led the team with a .305 attack percentage, a mark that ranked her in the top 10 among all players in the Southland Conference.
“Amanda came here from a 1A school and is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet,” Gray said. “She has such a shear enthusiasm and is so engaged in what she does. Her work ethic and team-first attitude is why she is in the middle of the court, and I really think she has the opportunity to blossom this year. Putting her and Taylor together may give us the best middle pair in the league.”
With nearly 70 percent of the Bearkats' attacks coming from the trio of Cunningham, Brooke White and Jordyn Vaughn in 2016, Gooch was still able to take advantage of her 528 tries. Only once on the season did she have a match with more than three errors and four times she turned in at least 10 kills. Her season high came on the road at eventual league champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when she set career highs with a dozen scores on 29 swings to go with seven blocks.
Though effective in the middle, both Cunningham and Gooch measure in at 5-10 each, and Gray made sure the roster got bigger in the off-season when she brought in 6-3 freshman Courtney Littlefield from Tomball.
Littlefield brings with her a litany of success from the prep ranks, helping her homeschool team, SATCH, claim the last three NCHVC national championships while earning all-America honors each time. She also helped her TAV Houston club team take the 2016 national title and could play a big role for the Kats this season with the immediate blocking presence she will bring.
“We know Courtney can block and she will get better as she adjusts to the tempo of the game at this level,” Gray said. “Right now she is more one-dimensional than our other middles, but if we need a big block then she can go get it done. She's so gifted in that regard that we are certainly going to need her and be able to utilize her skills.”
