Fall Preview: Cardinal front line stands tall in SEISC South

With last season?s, last-minute rearranging of coaches, Cardinal athletic director Tony Fetter solidified the position in a big way in 2009 by hiring two head coaches.

Jesse Andrews ? a familiar face around Cardinal High School ? and Amanda Totten, who was playing collegiate volleyball at this time last year, take over as co-coaches for a Comet team that posted a 12-13 record last year.

?I felt the record last year was maybe a little misleading due to the shuffling around of the coaches that went on, but this year I think the girls will be a little bit more cohesive,? Andrews said.

Andrews and Totten inherit a team that may lack varsity experience, but could make up for that with a tall front line. Sophomores Elizabeth Nichols, Andrea Kayser and Cory Campbell, junior Chelsea Aschenbrenner and senior Morgan Benson will stand tall at the net as Kayser hopes to pick up where she left off last year when she put down 128 kills as a freshman. Morgan Benson also tacked on triple-digit kill numbers in 2008, finishing the season with 101.

Kayser and Benson are the only two that return with significant varsity experience, but Totten says significant strides have already been made in the opening weeks of practice.

?We started at a very low base and just started building them up. They?ve been producing, they?ve been responding to us and doing what we ask of them,? she said. ?Their play has improved phenomenally in two weeks.?

Chelsea Greiner and Johnna Chance will fill in the back row along with multitude of players to turn to from a deep bench.

?A lot of role players that will come off the bench and get a lot of good quality time,? said Andrews. ?Almost anybody on our team can come off the bench and do something positive for us.?

Cardinal will begin its season Sept. 3 on the road against Moravia.