Round-robin tournaments showcase new Rainbow Wahine talents
Ashley Nonaka
Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: Sports
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The events will take place on Tuesday, March 18, and Friday, March 21, with three matches each night starting at 4:30 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine will play the last two matches on each night, starting at 5:30 and 7 p.m.
Tuesday's mini-tournament will feature Hawai‘i, Cal State Northridge and Nittaidai (Japan). Northridge and Hawai‘i will return to the court on Friday to play St. Mary's in the second mini-tournament.
Head coach Dave Shoji says that the spring tournaments will help the team to improve their skills.
"I want to see some improvement by the players individually because we really haven't had a lot of time to work on the team concept, so the focus is more on each player than the team," Shoji said.
Last season, the 'Bows said aloha to four seniors: middle blockers Juliana Sanders, Kari Gregory and Caroline Blood and libero Raeceen Woolford. Sanders was a frequent starter, and without her, Shoji says that other players will have a chance to show their skills.
"We've got a new player, a transfer from Arkansas, Catherine Fowler, and I believe that she will do quite well. We also have a younger player named Amanda Simmons, who's going to be a good player in time, so those two will have some time to step in," Shoji said.
Shoji also says that red-shirt freshman Stephanie Ferrell, who was hurt during the fall season, has been playing well recently and will demonstrate this in the series. He added that the setters will also be key to the tournament, as they've improved since last fall.
"Those are the players that didn't play much last year, but you'll see them and hopefully they'll play well," Shoji said.
The team started spring workouts during the second week of school, which includes conditioning four times a week and practice twice a week.
"Everyone's been working hard to get stronger at practice," Ferrell said. "I think that we're more than prepared for this tournament."
Ferrell also hopes to gain experience. "The tournaments will allow us to build up team chemistry because we have new players and it will just give us time to bond and get to know each other on the court."
Admission to Tuesday's mini-tournament matches will be free for season-ticket holders.
Catherine Fowler
Sophomore middle blocker Catherine Fowler is a 6-foot-2 transfer from the University of Arkansas.
She is a two-time all-state and all-conference selection and earned multiple all-tournament team honors during her prep career.
She also led the Wampus Cats to four conference tournament titles and several in-season tournament crowns in her four seasons.
During her career as an Arkansas Lady Razorback, Fowler played in 117 of the Lady'Backs' 122 games last season, averaging 1.22 blocks and 1.52 kills per game.
Amanda Simmons
Freshman middle blocker Amanda Simmons is a 2007 graduate of Elk Grove High School in Illinois, where she lettered two years in volleyball. The 6-foot-2 freshman was named the No. 57 senior on prepvolleyball.com's Senior Aces list and was recognized on Volleyball Magazine's Fab-50 list.
Simmons was on the honor roll and was a member of the National Honor Society. She also won the 2007 President's Award for Educational Excellence and played for Club Fusion. During the summer of 2007, Simmons was a member of the U.S. Junior National A2 Team.
Stephanie Ferrell
Freshman outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell is a 2007 graduate of Locke High School in Los Angeles. She lettered three years in volleyball, two years of which were at Manual Arts High School.
The 6-foot-1 outside hitter was named the No. 99 senior on prepvolleyball.com's Senior Aces list.
Ferrell was listed on the girl's 17-club all-tournament team at the 2005 USA Girl's Invitational Championships. She earned all-city honors in 2004 and played for the Southern California Volleyball Club.
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