By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor 

It didn’t take long during Westlake’s district-clinching win against Bowie last week to see what makes the Chaps particularly difficult to defend.

After the Bulldogs opened the match with a service ace, Westlake senior setter Elly Barrett took a pass from Olivia Caridi and quickly scanned the court. She saw Bowie’s blockers drifted toward Sara Shaw, intent on slowing the Chaps’ leading hitter. With a quick flick, Barrett dumped the ball into the open gap in Bowie’s defense for the equalizer.

More importantly, she sent a message to the Bulldog defenders: Focus too much on Westlake’s hitters at your own peril.

On the eve of the postseason, Barrett and the Chaps hope that message resonates among their Class 5A Region IV playoff foes. Barrett’s ability to score points on dumps provides a rare challenge to defenses, and she hopes that the shot will help the Chaps roll up kills in the playoffs.

“It helps our hitters out, and that’s always the goal,” she says. “If I can get any splits (in defenses), then I’m doing my job.”

The dump involves a setter turning an apparent set into a sudden shot. If executed properly, the dump becomes a high-percentage shot that can rack up unexpected kills. More importantly, it can force defenders to honor the setter’s attacking ability, thus freeing up other attackers for open shots.

Barrett has executed the dump shot better than any setter in Chap history, says longtime Coach Al Bennett. No full-time setter has more career kills, and no setter has ever hit with a higher percentage.

“Elly’s not like any other setter we’ve ever had,” Bennett says. “We came into this year with less weapons than we’ve had in the past, so I’ve stressed to her that she has to be more of a factor offensively. She’s definitely stepped up.”

At 6-feet, Barrett has size that equals many middle blockers. She also has splendid court vision, as evident by her 2,226 career assists, including a regular-season school record 1,101 this season.

Barrett entered this week’s regular-season finale with 215 career kills, the highest tally in school history for any full-time setter. She has also rolled up an impressive hitting percentage of .450 and a kill percentage of .510 this season, which both exceed the targeted conversion rate set by the demanding Bennett.

Despite the kills, Barrett remains a setter at heart. The goal of the dump shot, she says, involves the betterment of her hitters.

“If they (blockers) jump with me, then our hitters will have more chances,” she says. “It’s all about creating gaps in the defense.”

Barrett uses a combination of pregame scouting and her volleyball intuition to help determine where and when to try a dump shot. Some teams block more on the edge than the middle by design, she says, while others will leave openings while scrambling during long rallies.

Barrett does try to time her kills for maximum effectiveness. She usually attempts a shot early in the match to keep the middles drawn in, and she’ll often try to halt another team’s run with a well-placed kill.

“I try early so that the middle is thinking about staying with me for just a second longer the rest of the game,” she says. “And if a team is having a run of points, I can break their momentum if I can get the dump. It’s a good weapon.” 

Bennett agreed with his setter about the importance of the timing.

“If you establish it right off the bat, then they (middle blockers) will always jump with her,” he says. “And when the setter is front row, defenses have to account for her.

“And the dump shot is real important in long rallies. In transition, defenses will lose track of the setter, and you can get some easy points.”

According to Westlake’s Sara Shaw, few setters can match Barrett’s ability on dump shots. 

Shaw plays left side for the Chaps this season but has extensive experience at middle blocker. She has played against the best setters in the nation during club tournaments, and she says no setter poses more problems for the defending front row.

“Elly’s by far the best that I know at dumping shots,” Shaw says. “She can shoot it back to the far corner, dump behind her head, dump in the middle of the court. She can do any kind of shot that she wants.”

Ironically, Shaw will get a chance to defend Barrett when the Westlake junior graduates high school in 2010. Shaw has committed to the University of Southern California, while Barrett has committed to Pac-10 Conference rival the University of California-Berkeley.

Until then, Shaw can benefit from Barrett’s dump shots just like the rest of Westlake’s hitters.