GREAT MIDWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Volleyball Season Preview

G-MAC Women’s Soccer Championships: The 2012 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championships will take place on November 16, 2012 through November 17, 2012.

The location of the tournament will be determined by seeding from the final regular-season conference standings. The regular-season champion will be the top seed and host the weekend action.
 
Volleyball Preview – Top Returners & Newcomers
 
Cedarville brings back AVCA NCCAA All-American junior Stephanie Rogers (5’11”), along with a pair of sophomore’s Hannah Wagner (6’2”) and Maddie Anderson (5’9”). Rogers was also named NCCAA All-American Second Team and NCCAA Midwest Region First Team, averaging 2.91 kills per set, a .338 attack percentage, and 1.02 blocks per set. Wagner was almost as dominant with 2.64 kills per set, while Adnerson recorded 5.63 assists and 0.64 service aces per set. The three of them lead a group of nine returners, while the Yellow Jackets have replaced four with four tall freshman that can step in and play right away. Three-year letter winner from California Alyssa Barkley (5’11”), led her team to the finals of the CIF San Diego Section and California State Final Four as a junior. Lori Inkrott (5’10”) was an All-Ohio Second Team as a senior and District IV and Principals’ Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Sarah Simpson (5’10”) was a member of the county and division championship team from Berks Catholic High School in Pennsylvania, where she earned All-District honors, and Tori Thompson (6’1”) was a four-year letter winner, two-time All-District, two-time All-Conference , and had over 1,000 career kills at Tree of Life Christian High School in Ohio.
 
Trevecca Nazarene will be led by Jenna Robertson, Kristen Johnson and Persephonie Devereaux. Last season, Robertson was a NCCAA Mideast Region selection, a TranSouth Scholar-Athlete, and TranSouth Player of the Week, appearing in all 35 matches (team-high 130 games), recording 307 kills, 86 block assists, 18 solo blocks, 81 digs, and 30 service aces. Johnson played in 34 matches (122 games) and recorded 395 digs, 235 kills, 114 set assists, 44 block assists, and 23 aces. Devereaux was a TranSouth Scholar-Athlete and was named to the All-Tournament Team during the Olivet Nazarene University Holiday Inn Express Classic. She only played in 16 matches due to injury but posted 79 kills, 35 digs, 28 and block assists – which would translate to around 300 kills, 130 digs, and 100 block assists over 130 games played. In 2010 she recorded 184 kills with 66 digs and 54 block assists. With only two players lost to graduation, the team has expanded its roster with the addition of eight newcomers to the program, including setters Caroline Gay and Loren Bennet, outside hitter Amy Bottomlee, and middle blocker Delaney Hearne.
 
Urbana will be guided by a pair of seniors, Karla Vogel and Paige Heistan, and a very talented sophomore Kelsey Volkmer. Vogel, a three-year starter and team captain in 2012, totaled 715 in 2011 improving her career total to 2,352 – ranking third all-time. Heistan is a two-year starter, totaling 224 kills, 118 digs, and 40 blocks last season. Volkmer is coming off a freshman season in which she was named D-II Independent Freshman of the Year, Third Team All-Independent, First Team All-Ohio Independent, and team Offensive Player of the Year. She has a hitting percentage of .241, while totaling 304 kills and 53 blocks. Coming into the program will be Megan Verhoff, Kayli Lucius, and Kaci Eurez to help replace the loss of Ashley Jackson and Amanda Ingram. Verhoff (5’11”) was second team All-Putnam Country League and Honorable Mention All-Blanchard Valley Conference. She led the team in blocks, while finishing with 147 kills and 34 aces (ranked second on her team in both categories). Lucius will help solidify the setter position and also provide some help on defense. She broke both the single-season and career assist records at Olentangy Orange High School in Ohio, recording 469 assists in 2011. Eurez will anchor the defense for the next four years, she was selected to Team USA, earning the top defensive position during a tournament in Italy when she was just a sophomore in high school. She tallied 427 digs this past season and had 53 service aces.
 
Ursuline returns defensive specialist Kelly Stenger, outside hitter Alex Leister, and setter Kelly Plas. Stenger was an ICAA All-Freshman Team selection, leading the team with 344 digs, and was second with 30 service aces. Leister was an All-Ohio Independent Championship honorable mention after leading the team with 212 kills, and was second behind Stenger with 294 digs. She tied with Stenger with 30 service aces, and was third with 28 blocks. As a freshman, Plas led the team with 483 assists and was fifth with 68 kills. The Arrows lost just a few players from the team last season, including a pair of defensive players. This should allow Stenger to solidify her position as the team’s top defender. Joining the team will be four freshman, two from the state of Michigan. Sabrina Kinney doubled as a basketball star at Linden High school in Michigan and brings a lot of athleticism to the Arrows. Local product, Jaclyn Brandt will provide more depth defensively, as she recorded 186 digs last season as a senior.
 
Volleyball Preview – Team News
 
Cedarville returns nine players after losing only four from a team that went 22-18. With the addition of four seemingly solid freshman, the Yellow Jackets seem to be on track to improve from last year, in which the team lost to Walsh University in the finals of the Ohio Independent Championship and participated in the NCCAA Midwest Regional. As the school enters its first season as full members of the NCAA Division II, they also enter their first season as members of the G-MAC. Under head coach Doug Walters, the team will face a long and difficult schedule, including a match at #10 (AVCA preseason poll) Univ. of Indianapolis in October and a match at #25 Wheeling Jesuit.
 
Trevecca Nazarene went 20-15 last year with a roster of only 10 players, with 16 athletes in 2012-13 the results should improve despite a successful season in which the team played in the NCCAA Mideast Regional, making it to the championship match before falling and just missing out on the NCCAA National Championships. As the program heads into year two of its NCAA Division II candidacy process, the roster is taking shape. It will be the first class recruited with the NCAA in site and is the first team of players all recruited by Coach Crowley. Look for Johnson and Devereaux to have breakout seasons with depth and talent surrounding them, as Johnson is nearing the top-10 in career kills, attacks and digs.
 
Urbana is under new head coach Troy Haught, who will look to improve on its 8-26 record from last season, in which they lost to Notre Dame in the first round of the OIC Tournament. Senior setter Karla Vogel is on track to become the all-time career assists leader at Urbana, needing 687 assists to reach 3,039. She has totaled more than 687 assists in hear of her first three seasons at UU, while owning three of the top four single-season assists marks in the Urbana Division II era. Also look for sophomore middle hitter Kelsey Volkmer to attack the record books. As a freshman she fell just five kills shy of the single-season record, while playing alongside two senior middle hitters. With more opportunity, Volkmer is expected to own the mark for the next few seasons.
 
Ursuline posted an 11-20 record last season, going 1-7 in OIC play, falling to Walsh in the first round ot eh OIC Tournament. The Arrows start quickly with a pair of tournaments, one at Fairmont State, and the other at Kentucky Wesleyan. A majority of the schedule will be played on the road, however over the final two weeks the team will play six straight home-matches at the O’Brien Athletic Center to conclude the regular-season.

Volleyball Preview – Season Outlook
 
Cedarville will enter the season with some excitement, starting with Rogers pursuit of 1,000 career kills in which she is only 162 kills away after two seasons. Her teammate, sophomore Maddie Anderson was just four aces away for establishing a new school record last year – so she will look to take down that record this year and continue to build toward the career mark as well. Coach Walters talked about the upcoming season, saying how important the 2012 season is for his team.  With all the work he has put into building this program, they now have the depth, especially with the addition of four front row freshman. With 22 of 36 matches on the road this season, the program will have to learn to win away from the Callan Athletic Center, and if they can, they will be in prime position for a high seed at the G-MAC Championships.
 
Trevecca Nazarene will look to compete for a high seed in the G-MAC standings, while continuing to improve upon the runner-up finish last year in the NCCAA regionals. The season begins at the Scott Jones Classic, which is in memory of the late coach Scott Jones, while the first home G-MAC contest will be in November against Urbana. The Trojans will also face off against its top rival, Cedarville, for the first time ever in conference action.
 
Urbana has been on the decline each of the last three seasons, and under new head coach Troy Haught the team will look to reverse the trend. He will rely on three seniors that recorded 16 wins as freshman to return the team to that level. With five new freshmen and a solid returning class the team will look to get off to a quick start. The team plays eight matches in the first week, taking part in both the Fairmont State and the University of Findlay’s invitational.
 
Ursuline has a lot of young talent returning and they will be looked upon to point this program in a new direction and gain some valuable experience for the youth on the roster.  Ursuline is in its final year of the NCAA Division II membership process, and participating in the first season as a member of the G-MAC.