By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

Having lost one of the best players in program history, William & Mary volleyball coach Tim Doyle might be expected to call this a rebuilding year. Not so. With nine newcomers, including three transfers, Doyle already sees improvement from a year ago.

Sure, he'd love to have two-time All-CAA middle blocker Julia Brown on his roster again. But going into his fifth season, which begins Friday in Tampa, Doyle is excited by the talent level he's seeing in preseason practice.

"People will consider this a rebuilding year with how many seniors have left, but I don't see it that way," Doyle said. "When I look at our on-court performance, we're better than last year.

"To me, it doesn't matter if the majority of our roster is freshmen and sophomores. We're playing better volleyball. And I'm freakin' pumped for this year."

In a rarity for this program, W&M has two incoming graduate transfers: Emma Minnick, a setter from Charleston Southern, and Taylor Burrell, a 6-foot opposite hitter from Miami. Also changing addresses is Eleanor Stothoff, a 6-2 sophomore opposite hitter from Michigan State.

Among the six freshmen are 6-3 Nicole Smith, the tallest player W&M has had since Jaclyn McKenna in 2013, and 6-2 Ryann Love. Returning to the attack line are 6-footers Kaitlyn Ferguson, Maddie Meyers, Sydney Taylor and Sabrina Malcolm.

"We have a ton of options offensively," said Doyle, whose team will open against South Florida and South Alabama Friday before playing Ball State Saturday. "We're really versatile.

"What I've told the team is, our path to winning is that we're going to have a really great first and second touch on the ball. And our third touch, we have power, we have versatility and we have speed. That's how we're going to put the ball away."

In the back, the Tribe returns sophomore setter Amy Schwem, who was fifth in the CAA last season with 8.35 assists per set. During the spring, she competed in the Women's National Team Open Program in Colorado Springs against some of the nation's best players.

"She's even better than last year," Doyle said. "She's the total court commander. Every attacker in our gym, she finds a way to put a ball up that's killable for that attacker. She understands what type of ball each attacker needs."

Doyle also likes Minnick, who has 1,497 assists in three seasons at Charleston Southern. In fact, don't be surprised to see the Tribe in a 6-2 offense with six attackers and two setters in the rotation.

Also returning is senior libero Anna Porter, who was seventh in the CAA last season with 3.72 digs a game.

"She has such a great eye for the game," Doyle said. "But (freshman) Kaitlyn Dunnigan, she's right on her heels. She and another freshman, Lindsay Kahren, have performed like they can start tomorrow. And I'd feel comfortable starting any one of the three of them."

Having nine returning players and nine newcomers has presented Doyle with an interesting team dynamic. But the getting-to-know-each-other phase is long in the past.

"Our captains, Kaitlyn Ferguson and Anna Porter, have really done a great job since school let out in May," Doyle said. "We partnered every returner with an incoming player, and they were responsible for connecting with them and telling them more about William & Mary, our culture and our value system.

"When we started training in August, they already knew one another. They could just fully dive right into the volleyball component of our preseason, and that has really helped accelerate our volleyball improvement and get the pieces in place."

Of the 18 players on the roster, only five have been with the program for more than one season. Doyle doesn't see that as even a small issue.

"When you watch them on the court, it doesn't look like a very young roster," he said. "They're talented and athletic. We have the right seniority in the right spots to have enough game experience where the athleticism around it can come out and shine."