This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It had to feel downright lonely at times this offseason for Utah women's volleyball head coach Beth Launiere.

Gone were seniors Chelsey Schofield-Olsen, Shelby Dalton, Bailey Bateman, Kalee Kirby and Lea Adolph — Utah's leaders in almost every major category as it rallied to make a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

Also gone were both of Launiere's assistants: J.J. Riley left to become the head coach at Montana State, and a week later, Brian Doyon was picked to lead Montana.

Add to that recovery periods for sophomores Carly Trueman and Eliza Katoa and true freshman Berkeley Oblad, and there were times when Launiere's roster bore little resemblance to last fall.

But August has been productive, Launiere said Tuesday, and, as her freshmen have vied for starting jobs in the nation's most competitive conference, kind of fun.

"I definitely don't mind these kind of years," she said. "... There's a lot of teaching going on. There's a ton of learning going on."

To replace Riley and Doyon, Launiere hired national team consultant and scout J.J. Van Niel and Western Oregon assistant Malia Shoji.

Van Niel came with a background in data analysis and a recommendation from USA head coach Karch Kiraly, while Shoji grew up around volleyball and is the niece of 40-year Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji, the winningest coach in NCAA history.

They were ideal hires, Launiere said, but she's had to instruct coaches and players more than usual to make sure everybody's on the same page.

"In all my 25 years, I've never hired two at the same time," she said. "... Everything's new for a year. I didn't realize [in the past] how much the other assistant would pick up the slack for a new one."

Despite the graduation exodus and with three seniors and three juniors remaining, the Utes are one of nine Pac-12 teams ranked in the preseason AVCA poll, at No. 23.

Senior setter Kendall Cygan is the most battle-tested returner, having started 95 times over three previous seasons and totaling 1,864 assists.

And Katoa, Trueman and Adora Anae all played significant roles last year as freshmen, with Anae going on to become one of the top scorers during a European tour for the women's junior national team.

Anae and Katoa give Utah comfort at the outside hitter position, and Launiere has been pleased by the battle between Trueman, senior Brenna DeYoung and junior Alyssa Koenig at middle blocker.

On the right side, things get interesting. Redshirt freshman Emma Kirst, true freshmen Oblad and Megan Boudreaux and Casper College transfer Madison Legerski are all candidates to step into the shoes of Dalton, an All-Pac-12 first-teamer. But, obviously, experience there is not a strong suit.

Oblad was the nation's 34th-ranked recruit, per PrepVolleyball.com, and chose Utah over BYU despite coming from a family of lifelong Cougar fans. She joined the team in spring but was unable to play for months due to blood clots in one of her hands.

Boudreaux was a star at Bingham and, like Oblad, thought to be a middle blocker before the need became apparent on the right side.

Other freshmen Utah may lean on include Megan Shughrou, who looks likely to back up junior Tess Sutton at libero, and redshirt freshman Jessie Jorgensen, who will start at the other setter spot in Utah's 6-2 offense.

It's "definitely weird" how different the team looks this year, Cygan said, but she's been impressed by the newcomers.

"I was expecting a lot more nerves, but they're taking the role and going with it."

Of course, they don't really have a choice. That Utah is ranked is a reflection of what it was able to do last season and the regard other coaches have for Launiere — not anything they have seen from these players.

But from Launiere's perspective, at least, it's starting to look like she has a team again.

"We've embraced the new."

Twitter: @matthew_piper —

2015 Utah Classic

P Aug. 28-29 at the Huntsman Center

Utah vs. Idaho State, 7 p.m. Friday

Utah vs. Cal State Northridge, 10 a.m. Saturday

Utah vs. Lipscomb, 7 p.m. Saturday