The newest member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, Malone, is looking to make an immediate splash in year one in the sport of volleyball.
Despite being projected fourth in the league’s annual preseason coaches poll, the Pioneers have the potential to be instant contenders in both the division and overall conference races.
The supporting evidence is there.
Three of Malone’s non-conference wins in 2015 came at the expense of G-MAC opponents: Alderson Broaddus, Cedarville and Ursuline. The Pioneers won in five sets vs. Alderson Broaddus and Ursuline while beating the Yellow Jackets in four games. AB and CED were G-MAC divisional winners and top seeds in the conference tournament.
Veteran 18th-year head coach Tanya Hockman and her staff will do their best to make that happen as the program makes the official transition from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
Hockman won’t show her full hand to the league observers just yet, only revealing that her staff will evaluate the team’s preseason strengths and weaknesses and enhance things her team does well. The Pioneers employ a 5-1 and a 6-2 offensive system.
Hockman welcomes a sizable class of seven newcomers and with five freshmen presumably returning from her class of 2015, the Pioneers will be loaded with underlcassmen. Three impactful seniors will need to be replaced, including Elizabeth Maczuzak, Sarah Brent and Heather Papp.
Seniors this year include Haley Kool in the middle and Lynsey Trusty in the back row and both will be looked upon for expanded leadership roles.
Sophomore middle/outside Mallory Adams led the team in kills per set and service aces as a rookie. Sophomore setter Cathryn Miller was also featured in a prominent role as a first-year student-athlete and averaged 8.49 assists per set. Another team leader as a freshman in 2015 was Maggie Hamrock and her 3.27 digs per set.
The coaching staff has a heavy dose of future G-MAC competition on the docket including matches with incoming 2017-18 member institutions Hillsdale, Findlay, Ohio Dominican and Walsh, within the first three weeks of the season.
Malone will also represent the G-MAC at the Mizuno Midwest Region Crossover in Aurora, Ill., in mid-October.
Head Coach: Tanya Hockman (18th season)
2015 Record (Overall): 11-22
2015 Record (Conference): 4-14 (GLIAC)
2015 All-Conference Performers: Elizabeth Maczuzak (All-GLIAC Honorable Mention)
Quotable: “The transition’s real great for the University, the program; we’re excited to be part of this great group of universities. Expectations I think for us - are simply to control the controllables. I think our expectations are to give it our best every single day and let the outcome be the outcome.”
- Malone Head Coach Tanya Hockman
Records Watch: Malone’s student-athletes will have a chance to make their mark on the conference single-season records immediately…It will take some time for the incoming freshman class to accumulate four-year stats and make their mark on the career conference records…To put things into perspective for a single season, now-graduated middle/outside Elizabeth Maczuzak’s 291 kills would have ranked fifth in the G-MAC last year.