SUMMER BUZZ

Eamonn (how do you even pronounce that?) Brennan of ESPN wasn’t content to watch Jay Bilas heap all the praise on VCU. He’s decided to get in on the action as well.

WELL PLAYED, BILAS

Jay Bilas rocking the VCU swag like a boss right now. Say what you want, but you can’t say that the guy doesn’t have a sense of humor. EDIT: Bilas’ feature is out, but of course it’s on ESPN Insider. If you’ve got that, you can read it here.

DRIVING FORCE

The Rams expect redshirt junior Kristin Boyd to be a top offensive threat this season.

It was time for a new challenge, James Finley decided. His most recent volleyball project, Kristin Boyd, was playing with the Rams in a spring tournament in North Carolina a couple of years back, and he needed to throw her a curveball.

Boyd’s progress from a raw collection of athletic ability to an actual volleyball player had been a gradual, continual process. But real change takes place outside one’s comfort zone. Familiarity breeds complacency and stagnation.

So Finley told Boyd it was time to jump serve, which requires advanced coordination and timing, neither of which were her strengths. But she did as she was asked. Boyd tossed the ball into the air, measured her jump, swung her powerful right arm and sent a SCUD missile directly at the up-referee, positioned next to the right post.

“She almost knocked the ref off the stand,” Finley chuckled. “She hit him so hard.”

There many of these anecdotes that can be woven together to chronicle Boyd’s three-plus year volleyball indoctrination. They also juxtapose the reality of this season: that the redshirt junior has weathered years of frustration to become VCU’s most dangerous player.  A rare blend of strength, quickness and leaping ability, Boyd will be the Rams’ big gun, their No. 1 offensive option.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Boyd grew up mostly in Vermont before moving to Wilmington, N.C. prior to high school. She dabbled in a number of athletic pursuits over the years, including track, softball, skiing, ballet and jazz tap dance. It’s easy to see why. Her 6-2 frame is built on a foundation of long, muscular legs, topped off by a pair of chiseled arms. Her skill set transcends disciplines.

BABY BOOM

Congratulations to Women’s Basketball Coach Beth Cunningham and her husband, Dan, who welcomed their first child, Margaret Jane Cunningham, yesterday. How soon before this kid has a killer crossover? I give it three years before she’s getting buckets on YouTube. Assistant Darren Guensch was speculating on possible nicknames last night, and while Maggie is an obvious choice, I think we’ve got to go with MargaNet. I think that’s the only real choice.

WE TALKIN’ ABOUT PRACTICE?
A couple of articles related to a new VCU Baskeball practice facility hit the interwebs today. Read the first here. The other, which also discusses City Stadium, is here.

I think this is great, obviously. No longer will staff basketball be hindered by those pesky Division I basketball programs. Now we can run our happy band of has-beens all over the Siegel Center.

I NEED VARSITY 3D DODGEBALL AT VCU

I need 3D dodgeball at the D-I level like I need air. If we can’t have that, I need an intramural team in the worst way. Somebody please make this sport happen in Richmond, like, yesterday.

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: JOEY RODRIGUEZ

…NOT CONSTANTINOPLE

Joey Rodriguez is headed to Istanbul, Turkey to play professional basketball. I asked him today which team, but he couldn’t pronounce it. I’ll just wait for the press release in Turkish.

10 THINGS TO WATCH THIS FALL

Marle van Dessel ranks second in VCU history in goals scored (36).

FIELD HOCKEY
The van Dessel Conundrum. Twin sisters Marle and Flore van Dessel ushered in a rebirth of VCU Field Hockey. When younger sister Rymme van Dessel joined the pack – winning CAA Rookie of the Year honors in the process – the Rams enjoyed their best season in nearly two decades. Eight starters return for VCU, including All-CAA First Teamer Kelsey Scherrer and All-Rookie pick Emilie Soares, but can Coach Kelly McQuade and the Rams offset the loss of the best trio since Crosby, Stills and Nash?

Scherrer genius? Junior Kelsey Scherrer is primed for an assault on the VCU record books. Entering 2011, Scherrer has 26 goals and 65 points in 37 career matches. After scoring 15 goals in 2010, the Chesapeake, Va. native needs 13 more to become the Rams’ all-time leader, a mark held by Alycia Yoder (38) since 1994. Yoder also holds VCU’s career points record at 97.

CROSS COUNTRY
Cook brewing success? Distance Coach Nicole Cook took over VCU’s cross country programs last year and has her sights set on an upward trajectory. VCU’s harriers will be an experienced group, losing a total of just three seniors between the two teams. Last year’s women’s squad is essentially intact for 2011, while the men’s team, which finished fourth at the CAA Championships last season, will seek to replace top runner Piotr Dybas. Talented rising senior Axel Mostrag, 29^th at last year’s CAA Championship race, leads the way.

Kristin Boyd averaged 2.52 kills per set last season.

VOLLEYBALL
Boyd to fill void? When she arrived at VCU four years ago, Kristin Boyd resembled baby Bambi on ice – pensive, wide-eyed and raw. Thousands of repetitions later, Boyd is expected to provide the firepower for this year’s volleyball squad. Boyd hit her stride midway through last season and the redshirt junior finished the year second on the team in kills per set (2.52). Now, the Wilmington, N.C. native aims to lead the Rams, picked fourth in the CAA Preseason Poll.

VOLLEYBALL, FIELD HOCKEY AND SOCCER
Is six the fix? CAA Athletic Directors voted this summer to expand league tournaments in volleyball, field hockey, field hockey, soccer and baseball back to six teams. For the past two seasons, tournament fields in those sports were four teams. Although getting into a CAA Championship tournament just got easier, actually winning a conference title is now that much more difficult.

MEN’S SOCCER
Brave new world? Second-year Coach Dave Giffard welcomes 16 new players in 2011, a year removed from an 18-player recruiting class. The result is a completely overhauled VCU Soccer program in just two years. The team may have to wear name tags until October, but the Rams expect to be in the CAA mix.

International house of futbol. Sophomores Jason Johnson and Jose Carlos Castillo spent their offseasons toiling with the Jamaican Olympic qualifying squad and Guatemalan U-20 team, respectively. Recently, Castillo was invited join the Guatemalan team for World Cup qualifying and may not join the Rams until after the first week of September. Both will be critical to the Rams’ success in 2011, but both will need time to integrate back into Giffard’s system. The sooner they do, the better VCU could be.

VCU looks to All-ACC keeper Kristin Carden this season.

WOMEN’S SOCCER
Rolling in the deep? For the first time in their five-year tenure, Co-Head Coaches Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak and Tim Sahaydak will have more than a water cooler and athletic trainer on their bench. This year’s roster includes 29 players, a welcome relief to VCU’s recent depth issues. For a couple of seasons there were just 15 available players and at one point during the 2008 campaign, the Rams had just one available sub down the stretch.

Carden on guard? All-ACC goalkeeper Kristin Carden, formerly of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, joins the Rams in 2011. Carden ranks second in wins (18) and goals against average (1.33) and third in shutouts (9) on the Hokies’ all-time lists, and she did that in just two seasons. Her impact on VCU should be immediate.

Almost all of us. The good news is that the women’s soccer team graduated just one player from last season’s team. The bad news is that the one player was CAA Defender of the Year Myriam Bouchard, who, unfortunately does not have 12 years of eligibility. After a series of disguises were deemed inadequate, the coaching staff decided to just replace Bouchard. Despite her loss, VCU returns a young, talented bunch in 2011 and the Sahaydaks are counting on a breakout season.

FALLING INTO PLACE

Fall season is bearing down on us. I know this because of the 20-point checklist staring at me on my legal pad on my desk. In the spirit of keeping this blog awesome, here are a few links from today that might interest you.

Because apparently it’s never too early to preview basketball season, here’s The Hoops Report, sizing up the Rams for 2011-12.

If that wasn’t enough, here’s a quick rundown on the entire CAA for next season, courtesy of CAA Hoops.

How do you know if you’re horribly, horribly irritating? If Abercrombie considers you a liability, you have serious issues.

There’s also all kinds of fall previews and stuff hitting the front page at VCUAthletics.com, so be sure to get on board with that stuff. The guys in the office are busting it right now.

AWESOME VIDEO OF THE DAY

I can’t believe that after spending five years in a bowling league, I never thought of doing this.

The video won’t embed for me, but you can check it out here.