Faith Robins faced a tactic against Northwestern last Saturday she hadn't seen in her young Bobcat career.
The Wildcats scouted the sophomore outside hitter as an offensive threat following her career-high 18 kills the previous night against Tennessee. Northwestern limited Robins to eight kills, but Sue Jacobi and Katie Post had 15 apiece and Mandy Nichols added seven to make up the difference.
Robins' performance and the opponents' reaction showed a growing balance on attack for the Bobcats.
I think we have weapons in all areas
which is going to make us more balanced coach Ryan Theis said. If a team takes away something we can score in a different area. I believe every one of our players can score
and I haven't been able to say that the last two years.
Setter Michelle Jantsch, who Theis pointed out as a decision-maker on the floor, said she sees the advantage of setting multiple targets instead of just a few, which she experienced the previous two seasons.
It helps the hitters out because the blockers on the other side of the net don't know who I'm going to set it to
Jantsch said. It allows us to run different (combination) plays
which free up other hitters.
As is usually the custom with younger players, the transition takes time.
Redshirt freshman Lexie Hartnett is seeing the court for the first time this season, while Robins, a sophomore, has increased her role dramatically from the previous season.
Robins said confidence is an important factor that can be increased through more repetitions on the floor. But for Hartnett, it is all about adjusting to the new level of competition.
Definitely for me it was a big step up
Hartnett said. But I definitely feel more comfortable now and playing out there with my team always makes me happy.
Travelling to Texas for matches against Alabama-Birmingham, Texas Christian and UT-San Antonio, the team knows little about all three teams heading into the weekend, Theis said.
Having to make in-game adjustments more than scouting, the Bobcats will game plan more around their strengths than the other teams' weaknesses.
(The coaches) have told us to expect the unexpected
Hartnett said. We're going to go out there and prove who we are and bring our game this weekend.
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