The strongest class that University of Wisconsin volleyball coach Pete Waite ever recruited certainly made his job easy for the past four years.

"They started as freshmen so you pretty much knew your lineup,'' he said.

Not anymore. The UW volleyball team started practice for the 2008 season this week searching for answers at key positions like setter, libero and middle blocker.

Waite, whose team was picked to finish third behind defending champion Penn State and Minnesota in a preseason poll of Big Ten Conference coaches, views every situation with his team as a positive, and this one is no different.

"We're going to be a team that will be evolving as each week goes on,'' he said. "We're going to be trying lineups that I've never done as a coach because of the personnel we have. That's a good thing. It's going to be tough for our opponents.''

Waite hasn't ruled out running a 6-2 offense, or an offense that uses two setters because of the competition between redshirt sophomore Nikki Klingsporn and freshman Janelle Gabrielsen. That offense could also earn more playing time for 6-foot-6 freshman middle blocker Elle Ohlander.

"The benefit of running the 6-2 is also bringing in even bigger players on the front row. So you're going to big across the front,'' Waite said. "We've got one freshman at 6-6 with Ohlander and put her in with 6-4 (Morgan Salow) and 6-3 (Katherine Dykstra) and we've got a big front row.''

Whatever Waite does with his offense, it will still revolve around the talents of 6-foot junior outside hitter Brittney Dolgner, who led the team in kills in each of the last two seasons. The first Badger to receive All-American honors as a sophomore was one of just three Big Ten players to be a unanimous selection to the all-conference preseason team. Another UW player, senior middle Audra Jeffers, also was a preseason all-conference pick.

"Audra and Brittany are going to be a lot of our firepower, but our balance has been our strength in the past,'' said Waite. "We've really not been a team that has just one player that can get 25 or 30 kills. We're going to be four players getting 10 to 18 kills. That's what hard to stop with our offense.''

While much of the focus is on the replacements for stellar four-year players like setter Jackie Simpson and middle blocker Taylor Reineke, Waite said graduated senior libero Jo Wack will be tough to replace, too.

"Kim Kuzma's been doing a great job, and it looks like she's going to be the libero for this year,'' said Waite of the 5-foot-7 sophomore from Muncie, Ind. "She definitely has the attitude, and she's gaining experience now.''

Waite said the Badgers aren't lacking for experience despite the loss of five key seniors from last year's team that finished second in the Big Ten Conference and had a 26-5 overall record.

"The kids are excited because they've been waiting for their chance to play and have been training hard for a couple of years. It's not like we're all freshmen and sophomores out there,'' said Waite, who used Salow and Klingsporn as examples. "The players are there, now it's just a matter of finding where they can be on the court among each other.''