Idaho State volleyball coach Sean Carter has seen the good and the bad from his team in its two exhibition matches — now it's time to start finding out who the Bengals really are as they open their regular season Friday.
"I've learned that we can play like two extremes," said Carter after his team's exhibitions with Utah State and Utah Valley. "We played pretty poorly the first three sets against Utah State … and we kind of gave away the first set against Utah Valley, but then we played much more steady … It was nice to see us doing things well that we've been working on. That's what I was excited about."
The Bengals, picked by Big Sky coaches to finish in a tie for third in the conference in the preseason poll, kick things off bright and early with a match at 9 a.m. MT against a traditionally strong Stephen F. Austin squad in a tournament at Wichita State.
They play Missouri State at 1 p.m. later that day, then finish against the host Shockers at 5 p.m. Saturday evening.
"I'm excited to see how we compete against three quality teams," said Carter. "It will be a nice three games against teams that would surely be in the mix at the top of our league. That's what we went for when we went out with our schedule — comparable teams at the top of our league."
While the two exhibition matches helped Carter get a fix on his team, it didn't answer all of his questions. In fact, when it comes to his starting lineup, he probably still has more questions than answers heading into Friday's opener.
"In my head, part of me is I've got two lineups because some people are banged up and, as much as I really want to win these matches, I also don't want to further exacerbate some of the injury stuff we've been dealing with," Carter said. "So, I'd rather learn and give some people some time and experience."
The one certainty for Carter is that middle blocker Jaydin Watts, a preseason all-conference selection, will be in the starting lineup. Carter is leaning toward starting freshman outside hitter Mia Walsh from Rexburg, but he's not sure if he's going to play her on the right or the left side of the front line.
Junior opposite hitter Tana Howard from Arizona has been one of the Bengals' more consistent scorers in the exhibitions and she is most effective on the right side, so that might push Walsh over to the left.
There is a three-way competition for the starting spot at libero, featuring freshman Aspen Boice from Rexburg, sophomore Claudia Antcliff from Indiana, and junior Jenna Werbelow from Phoenix.
"It's about as close as I've ever had three (players)," said Carter. "I could honestly make an argument why it should be each of them."
At setter, it's between last year's starter Nora Waddoups, a sophomore from Rexburg, and sophomore Kadence Marsh from Colorado.
"I feel as confident as I ever have of having two setters, because I feel like I could win with both of them," said Carter. "For me, keeping both of them healthy is most important. If I think they're wearing out, then we might split time. We could end up with a lineup where we play them both."
Carter has been pleased with the early play of Boise junior Ava Brickner at outside hitter, who has been scoring at a high rate, and he has confidence in returning outside hitters Abby McClain, from Twin Falls, and Annelie Wilson, from Horseshoe Bend.
Bella Beatty, a freshman middle blocker from Park City, Utah, put in some quality time in the exhibition match against Utah Valley.
Gracie Vohs, a junior transfer outside hitter from St. Mary's, probably would contend for a starting spot, but she's sidelined with a leg injury and won't play this weekend.
In addition to sorting through his personnel, Carter also has to make decisions about what kind of alignment he wants to play. "I'm leaning toward the 5-1, but it's really going to come down to who we put out there and do they perform," he said. "If not, there are options and we'll work our way through that."
While Carter would certainly like to leave Wichita, his old stomping grounds where he was once an assistant coach, with three wins, he's most interested in learning about his team and giving them experience together.
"As long as I feel we're hanging in there, even if we take a loss or two, it's not going to rattle me," he said. "I just want to learn about our team and I just want to play good teams, which we have in front of us."