Volleyball Season Preview
As we inch closer to the start of the fall sports season, gopetrels.com is previewing the teams about to get underway. Here's a look at the 2010 volleyball team.
2010 Volleyball Preview
Head Coach Kurt Matthews continues to build up a Stormy Petrel volleyball program that is on the precipice of taking full flight. Matthews guided the Petrels to their first double-digit winning season (12 victories) since 2002 in his first year at the helm in 2008. Last season, Matthews' second, the Petrels amassed 17 wins, the most for the program since a 21-win campaign in 1999 – the last season in which Oglethorpe volleyball posted a winning record. Achieving that winning record and improving upon their 8th place finish in the SCAC Tournament will be the primary goals for the Petrels in 2010. With a cast of players that includes wily veterans infused with young talent, the 2010 Oglethorpe women's volleyball team is ready to break through.
The 2010 squad will boast services of three returning seniors who have each started for the Petrels since they arrived on campus as freshmen. Captain, Libero and dig master Hilary Miller (Memphis, Tenn.) leads the charge alongside outside hitting extraordinaires and co-captains Trupti Patel (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Sara Blair (Knoxville, Tenn.). Adding to the experienced core of returning players are senior outside hitter Samantha Von Ende (Leawood, Kan.), sophomore outside hitter Molly Buckner (Augusta, Ga.), sophomore Libero Michelle Maurin (Lafayette, La.) and sophomore setter Brittin Dawson (Anderson, SC).
Joining the upperclassmen will be sophomore transfer and younger sister of Hilary, Jamie Miller (Memphis, Tenn.) who "is a skilled setter that adds experience and leadership to the roster," said Matthews. Filling out the 18-woman roster are ten freshmen who Coach Matthews hopes will compete fiercely for playing time.
The heralded freshman class (with quotes from Coach Matthews) includes middle hitter Kristen Holmes of Flowery Branch, Ga. ("at 6'3", she brings much needed size and athleticism in the middle"), outside hitter Samantha Lynn of Fort Collins, Colo. ("played for a higher level Junior program and will make an immediate impact on the left side"), outside hitter Laura Landry of Marietta, Ga. (gifted all-around athlete who will help overall ball control and volleyball IQ"), setter Kate Cassell of Dallas, Texas ("adds much needed depth to the setting position") and outside hitter Kailey Yarbrough of Mosca, Colo. (will add depth to the Outsides and train as a serving and defensive specialist").
Joining the bevy of freshmen faces are middle hitter Kaneisha Currie of Memphis, Tenn. (a gifted student who will battle to contribute in the Middle or Rightside as a freshman), setter Ally Hayden of Lyndeborough, N.H. ("recipient of the Center for Civic Engagement Scholarship and defensive specialist"), right side Danielle Ferguson of Perry, Ga. ("club teammate of Justine Henley who will add much needed depth to the Middle Hitting position"), Libero Justine Henley of Perry, Ga. ("provides great depth at the Libero position) and outside hitter Jessica Cook of Suwanee, Ga. (starter at an elite high school program will provide depth at the Outside and Rightside positions).
The 2010 schedule is highlighted by 16 matches against stout SCAC foes including a set of contests hosted by Oglethorpe in the Schmidt Center and Dorough Field House the weekend of October 23-24. Senior Night festivities are scheduled for an October 6 matchup on Pinholster Court versus Toccoa Falls.
