Gazette-Times reporter

There are no shortcuts to success.

The rebuilding of the Oregon State volleyball program will continue this fall as coach Terry Liskevych begins his fourth season in Corvallis with a few more pieces of the complete puzzle in place.

The Beavers return the bulk of last year’s ninth-place Pacific-10 Conference club and should be able to improve upon last year’s 10-20 overall and 3-15 conference records, even with the conference expected to be as strong as ever, with two or three teams possibly advancing to the NCAA Final Four.

“Everybody wants to get after it, people are feeling more comfortable in their roles on the team and there’s competition for certain positions,” senior co-captain libero/defensive specialist Ashley Evans.

“That’s good, because (competition) always pushes everybody to play harder, and get after it more.”

The Beavers open the regular season against Wyoming at 6 p.m. Aug. 29 in their first match at the four-team Corvallis Invitational at Gill Coliseum. They also face the College of Charleston at noon, and Portland State at 8 p.m., on Aug. 30.

Those attending Saturday’s free

1 p.m. Orange & Black scrimmage at Gill Coliseum will see a team with a more versatile offensive attack than the past two seasons, when the Beavers’ primary hitting option was 6-foot-5 outside hitter Rachel Rourke.

“There will be a lot more opportunities for success,” Evans said.

“Instead of having one go-to player, we’ll have a lot more variety. Usually teams’ No. 1 goal is to take Rachel out of her game, but this year we’ll have a lot more weapons.”

Those weapons are 6-foot sophomore Jill Sawatzky, 6-3 juniors Katie Cochran and Brecht Gjisbertsen and 6-1 junior Bree Knitter, who moves outside from middle blocker. Rourke had a team-best 505 kills and was honorable mention all-Pac-10; Sawatzky had 332 kills and was honorable-mention all-freshman.

“I think we have a terminator for sure in Rachel,” Liskevych said. “She will probably play some right side as well, and that is the beauty of having Jill, Bree and Rachel, you can play them in a lot of different spots.

“We worked hard on ball control and blocking, and we really need to emphasize those aspects for our outside hitters. Jill and Rachel really need to score points by blocking.”

Junior Lexie Rathgeber (6-3) moves inside, joining 5-11 senior Lauren Rinderknecht as the probable (starting middle blockers. Sophomore Kiersten Sambrailo (6-0) and University of Utrecht (Holland) transfer Brecht Gijsbertsen should play as soon as she receives an OK from the NCAA Clearinghouse.

“The middles will really have to step up blocking-wise,” Liskevych said. “Lauren is going to be a small middle ... she really has to make sure she is playing good defense with good ball control, hitting smart shots and minimizing her errors.

“Brecht is that intangible who can really really add a lot of game experience and court sense. She is very mature, knowledgeable, fiery and competitive.”

Junior setter Camilla Ah-Hoy; sophomore setter Kaitlan Locke; Evans; senior co-captain defensive specialist Natalie Hooper, redshirt junior DS/OH Brittney Belshe and late signee Betsy Devich, a libero/defensive specialist who is OSU’s lone freshman, will also see substantial playing time.

Ah-Hoy had 468 assists (6.99 apg) in 2007 and is ninth all-time at OSU with two seasons yet to play.

“Camilla has done a great job of stabilizing as a 5-1 setter,” Liskevych said. “She has made tremendous strides since her freshman year to really understand what we want from her as a leader on offense.

“She works hard technically setting the ball. (Assistant coach Mark Barnard) is now in charge of offense and is doing a lot of play calling for her, which I think is exactly what she needs. She needs to use her physicality along with her competiveness. Milla’s work ethic is also a strength.”

The schedule is favorable, with seven of the first 11 matches at Gill Coliseum and 10 of the first 11 in-state.

“Getting the community involvement from the first tournament will really help us, and we’ll get used to playing at home. It’s lot easier playing at home,” Evans said. “You can rest better, prepare, you have your whole schedule set out in front of you and you know what to expect.

“On away games, you can’t really gauge your day.”

And a strong start would put the Beavers that much closer to a potential post-season berth if they can improve their conference mark.

“If we win more in preseason it would relieve the pressure to do better in the Pac-10,” Evans said. “There’s already pressure to do well in the Pac-10 because it is such a top conference.”

Five different Pac-10 teams have advanced to the Final Four over the past two seasons.

OSU VOLLEYBALL

COACH: Terry Liskevych, fourth year at OSU, 13th year overall

STAFF: Assistant coaches Mark Barnard and Laura Benzing; volunteer coach Nestor Iparraguirre; director of operations Brittany Fobi

2007 RECORD: 10-20, 3-15 Pacific-10 Conference

RETURNING PLAYERS: Sr. DS Natalie Hooper; Sr. L/DS Ashley Evans; Sr. OH/MB Lauren Rinderknecht; Jr. S Camilla Ah-Hoy; Jr. OH Rachel Rourke; Jr. MB Lexie Rathgeber; Jr. OH Katie Cochran; Jr. MB Brecht Gijsbertsen; Jr. OH/MB Bree Knitter; So. OH Jill Sawatzky; So. MB Kiersten Sambrailo; So. S Kaitlan Locke.

REDSHIRT: Jr. DS/OH Brittney Belshe.

PLAYERS LOST: S K.C. Walsh; OH Kristin Murray; DS/L Jennifer Fitz; OH/MB Kaitlyn Myers

SCHEDULE: Aug. 29, Wyoming; Aug. 30, College of Charleston and Portland State; Sept. 2, at Seattle U.; Sept. 5, Pacific; Sept. 6, Colorado State; Sept. 7, Pepperdine; Sept. 12, vs. UC-Riverside and Idaho at Portland State; Sept. 13, vs. Portland at Portland State; Sept. 15, Zhejiang Chinese Club (exh.); Sept. 20, @ Marquette and vs. Wisconsin at Marquette; Sept. 21, vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Marquette; Sept. 26, at Stanford; Sept. 28, at California; Oct. 3, USC; Oct. 4, UCLA; Oct. 12, at Oregon; Oct. 17, at Washington State; Oct. 19, at Washington; Oct. 24, Arizona; Oct. 25, Arizona State; Oct. 31, at UCLA; Nov. 1, at USC; NOv. 7, Oregon; Nov. 14, Washington; Nov. 16, Washington State; Nov. 21, at Arizona State; Nov. 23, at Arizona; Nov. 26, California; Nov. 28, Stanford.