If you haven't heard much about the Chico State women's volleyball team this season, there's a good reason. The Cats haven't played a home match yet, despite the fact they've put together an incredible record, with quite a few new faces.
There's a reason the Chico State women's volleyball team is all smiles and it has to do with their success.
Wildcats Head Coach Cody Hein, "we didn't necessarily expect to be 11-1, I expected to start off strong because I knew we had a good recruiting class, but we'll take 11-1, its really nice."
After arguably the two most important Chico State volleyball players in the history of the program graduated last year, Lindsay Macias and Erica Brick, many people predicted the Cats to be in rebuilding mode in 2009, but that hasn't been the case.
These ladies have developed a great chemistry with one another thanks to a schedule that's forced them to travel around the North State and their camaraderie shows when its time to play.
Wildcats Outside Hitter Gillian Heydorff says, "being on the road honestly has been so much fun like we've gotten to know each other and staying in hotels has been a lot of fun and all the girls, I mean we've all become a close knit team."
Wildcats Setter Sable Villaescusa adds, "we all feel very comfortable with one another and on the court it shows because we can talk to each other, we never like get angry with each other, we're always encouraging, its like everybody just kind of loves each other."
As conference play gets under way, the Cats will continue to grow as a team and with a rotation featuring four Freshmen, the lone Senior, Outside Hitter Gillian Heydorff will be heavily relied upon to be a leader, something she's embracing.
Cody Hein says, "man she's shining, her overall game is great and her leadership is really what's carrying us because without her, we're just really really really young on the court."
Gillian Heydorff adds, "its been fun, all the girls have accepted me as a leader and we've really proven that we're still a really good team."
And so far, they've also proven that being a young team can sometimes work in your favor.
