2006-07 women's basketball team preview
Nov 07, 2006
It is a new beginning for the Irvine Valley women’s basketball team.
The Lasers have just three players and one starter back from a team that finished last season with a record of 22-9.
With a nucleus of young players, Coach Julie Hanks said her team might take its lumps in the early going, but she hopes to have the Lasers ready for a strong run through Orange Empire Conference play in January and February.
“We might take our lumps and bumps through the pre-conference part of our schedule,” she said. “But our biggest thing is to stay positive for January.”
And Hanks knows how important January and February will be. The Lasers started last season with a record of 17-1 before faltering in conference. The team had a record of 6-8 in conference play and ended up missing the playoffs.
“You can have a great start, but it really doesn’t matter in the long run,” she said. “It all ultimately depends on how you do in conference.”
The Lasers lost four of five starters from last year’s team to graduation. The biggest was forward Vanessa Dominguez, who was named second-team all-state and a Kodak honorable mention All-American last year after breaking school records in points and rebounds for a season and a career. She averaged 19.5 points and 11.9 rebounds a game a year ago.
Irvine Valley should have a more balanced scoring attack this year, but the team will rely on returning starter, 5-9 sophomore small forward Emily Luckeroth, to lead the way.
Luckeroth averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds last year.
She also had one of the best games in school history, scoring a school record 35 points in her team’s victory over Chaffey.
“She looks to be playing even better,” Hanks said. “We are going to need her to step up even more this year. The same thing goes for Danyelle (Swenson).
“But I think a great thing about this year’s team is that we won’t have to rely on just one person. They are all going to be pretty much equally talented out there.”
The 5-3 Swenson, a former Irvine High standout, is another returning player for the Lasers. She was the back-up point guard on the team a year ago and averaged 3.4 points a game. She will start at one of the guard spots this season and is expected to be the team’s top outside shooter.
The other returning player for the team is 5-9 sophomore forward Hilda Gonzalez, who will start at power forward.
Starting at center will be 6-0 freshman Kayla Acromite. She averaged 9.0 points and 9.8 rebounds a game last year at Capistrano Valley High.
“She can be a real force inside,” Hanks said. She works very hard and she is just starting to develop her game. She is a great kid.”
Another player from Capistrano Valley, Katie Ryan, will start at the other guard position.
The 5-7 Ryan averaged 7.9 points last year for the Cougars.
The reserves on the squad include 5-9 freshman forward Nicole Tait (Mission Viejo High), 5-9 freshman forward Jenna Schonfeld (Capistrano Valley High) and 5-5 freshman guard Bethany Vergara (Costa Mesa High).
“We are really young,” Hanks said. “But I think we are tough. And I think this team is going to be fun to watch. We are going to compete.”
Irvine Valley opened the season with a home game Tuesday night against El Camino. It plays in the San Diego Mesa Tip-off Classic this weekend.