The Pack’s new threat
Jorgan Staker goes for a kill in a scrimmage earlier this season for Nevada. Staker plays right-side hitter for the Wolf Pack and will have to replace last year’s star of the team Teal Ericson, who led Nevada in a number of statistics last season. Amy Beck /Nevada Sagebrush
Staker is Nevada’s best replacement for Ericson
The Pack’s new threat Jorgan Staker has to fill the shoes of a champion, and she knows it. With the loss of All-Western Athletic Conference right-side hitter Teal Ericson, the pressure is on the 6-foot-1 junior to really make 2008 an impact year. Luckily for Nevada, Staker has plenty of experience and feels comfortable stepping up to the challenge of leading this year’s offense.
“It’s all about bringing the right attitude,” Staker said.
Staker took this attitude to Notre Dame this weekend as the Wolf Pack battled the Irish in South Bend, Ind. Nevada lost its first two matches of the season, including a 3-1 set battle with Notre Dame, but will look to get on the winning side Friday when No. 7-ranked UCLA comes to compete at the Virginia Street Gym.
“(Staker) is going have to step up this season,” coach Devin Scruggs said. “We lost a lot of players, but we have a lot of young talent as well.”
Now with the 2008 season officially kicked off, and a tough schedule ahead, the Wolf Pack is going to have to use the right-side hitter position to dominate offensively. Erickson used the position last year to average almost five kills a game and more than sixty blocks on the season. The team is going to need the same effort by Staker this season to make it to the WAC tournament at Honolulu in November.
Staker has lettered two seasons at Nevada, which is the same amount of years she lettered at Taylorsville High School in Taylorsville, Utah.
She got started in volleyball back in her middle school days, joining a recreational team coached by a friend’s parent. While she didn’t like how much the ball hurt her arms when learning how to pass, she found real enjoyment playing the game, which carries over today.
“When I go out there I just have fun, me and the rest of the girls really love to play,” said Staker, who posted triple digits in kills for Nevada last season.
When Staker reached Taylorsville High School she extended her talent across volleyball and basketball. She excelled in both but preferred volleyball because of its non-contact nature and faster pace. During her high school career as a volleyball player she accumulated many athletic awards including: honorable mention as a freshman, selected for second team sophomore year, Deseret News prep Athlete of the Week junior year and first-team All-State her senior year.
After being accepted to universities such as Boise State, Baylor, New Mexico State and Weber State, Staker chose Nevada for multiple reasons.
“I knew they had a great journalism school and I got to meet all the girls playing volleyball and we really had chemistry,” Staker said.
Majoring in communications with a minor in journalism, Staker is now entering her third year at Nevada as well as her third starting season on the women’s volleyball team.
Staker has done her best to step up to the plate and after a summer in Reno bonding with her teammates, she knows that teamwork will be the determining factor this year.
“It’s not going to be any individual performances that will cause us to be successful. The whole team is going to have to step up and most of all have fun,” she said.
Garrett Estrada can be reached at editor@nevadasagebrush.com.
- Ericson in 2007:
- 468 kills, .231 kill percentage, 104 digs, 64 blocks, 504.5 points
- Staker in 2007:
- 124 kills, .109 kill percentage, 0.39 digs, 68 blocks, 158.5 points
- *Ericson was a senior in 2007, while Staker was in her sophomore year
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