Aug. 25, 2009
Check back on Wednesday for the final installment of the position previews: Liberos and defensive specialists.
Baylor enters 2009 with a slew of middle blockers and right-side hitters, including a healthy Anna Breyfogle. Despite sustaining injuries to her shoulder and elbow in 2008, Breyfogle went on to earn all-Big 12 first team honors and lead the league in blocks per set. An offseason surgery and some vigorous rehab has Breyfogle back in the gym with talented returners AShley Byrd and Briana Tolbert. Both Byrd and Tolbert piled up more than 170 kills apiece, and will be counted on to provide depth this year. Along with those three, head coach Jim Barnes added a game-ready junior transfer from Texas in Elizabeth Graham, and one of the most highly-touted recruits in Texas in Amarillo's Torri Campbell. Tolbert and Campbell will each spend time playing the right side as well.
"We have depth in the middle that we have never had, " Barnes said. "We have the flexibility to have multiple players that can play a quick offense as well as hit on the right side. We prefer to run a quick offense with the right side and that's why we would like to put one of the middles over there. Its going to help us a great deal not having to rely on any one player."
Without a doubt, Breyfogle, a senior, is the leader of this group. Along with all-conference honors, she was named all-Central region. Breyfogle, with fellow all-region honoree Taylor Barnes, and kill-leader Katie Sanders, will form a versatile three-headed force at the net for the Bears. Breyfogle's forte is slowing the opposing team's big hitters with her ability to play defense above the net. While leading the Big 12, Breyfogle spent part of the year leading the nation in blocks per set, before injuries dropped her to seventh.
"We are really happy to have Anna back and healthy," Jim Barnes said. "She does a lot of things to help us win. She is one of the best blockers in the nation, but what really improved last season was her offense. People don't like facing the combination of her and Taylor in the middle. It's tough to stop."
Behind Breyfogle, Byrd and Tolbert will play important roles in rounding out the starting lineup. Byrd had a breakout season as a sophomore in 2008 setting career-highs in nearly every category. She racked up 173 kills to 46 in 2007, 64 blocks to 34 in 2007, and 52 digs to just eight as a freshman. Tolbert, on the other hand, made her presence felt right away for the Bears. As a freshman, Tolbert was second on the team in blocks with 88 and fourth in kills with 198.
"We are going to have great competition in the middle with AShley Byrd and Briana Tolbert," Barnes said. "Those two have some experience now and their games have improved a great deal."
The experience in the middle doesn't end there, however. Texas transfer Elizabeth Graham joins the Bears with two years of Big 12 play under her belt, and incoming freshman Torri Campbell was the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year and played on one of the most accomplished clubs in the state, Texas Advantage.
"Elizabeth Graham is a junior and can step in and play," Barnes said, "And Torri Campbell is such an accomplished player that there is going to be a lot of girls that are also going to compete on the right side as well."
