By: Greg Gorham, Media Relations Assistant
BOLIVAR, Mo. -- Head coach Kelly Richardson is set to begin year number four leading the SBU Bearcat volleyball program. Her squad will wrap up their preseason prep with their Purple and White scrimmage on Thursday, August 26, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Meyer Sports Center. Richardson recently shared her outlook for the upcoming season.
For the past two seasons, head coach Kelly Richardson has turned around the SBU volleyball program, earning more wins during the 2008 and 2009 seasons than the program had seen in the previous six years prior. This year will bring a bit of a different challenge to the Bearcats, as a number of new faces will look to join the returning players who have already been a large part of SBU's turnaround. Richardson is looking forward to seeing what the mix of experienced local players and out-of-state talent can accomplish. “The group we have that's returning provides us with such a great foundation. Then being able to bring in such a wide variety of players from other areas is going to add a lot of flair to our team. I'm very anxious to see how they all mesh.”
Richardson says about the newcomers on this year's squad, “Each of them can bring a little something from where they're from, and we can wrap it up into the culture of what we want here. We definitely are excited about the kids we have from this area who can represent southwest Missouri well. Then having players who will represent other areas of the nation is going to be great. We literally are coast-to-coast; from California to Florida, to Houston, and everywhere in between.”
Richardson on the front line...
Returning starters Brianna Wallace, Ashley Jurgensmeyer, and Joanna Granzow all look to improve from last season on the front line, as well as push the class of incoming freshmen. “In the setter position, we're feeling very confident this year. We have Brianna coming back in the setting spot and we'll look for big things out of her. She did a lot of hard work over the spring and summer, so we're excited to see what she can do as a senior. We also have an incoming freshman setter named Logan Lockard. She is from Lubbock, Texas, and we are extremely excited about Logan. Logan did an excellent job this spring of leading our club team and being a very vocal leader on the floor. She runs an offense very well, and delivers a good ball. We look for Logan to come in and really push in that setter spot. We're very excited about what she'll bring to our team.”
“We have Ashley Jurgensmeyer and Johanna Granzow back, so we have both of our starting middles from last year. The middle is such an important part in the MIAA, so to have two starters back in the middle is very nice. We also have an incoming freshman from Houston, Texas, named Jordan Nedbalek and we expect very big things out of Jordan. She is 6'2”, moves well, and is able to get up and execute a strong ball. We're anxious to work with her and see what she can do out on the court. She's a very energizing kid, and has worked hard over the spring/summer to get ready for this fall. RoseAnne Eggan joins us from California. RoseAnne will bring more height and strength to that middle position. She is such a hard worker, and is very ready to push herself at this level of play.”
“We'll be returning right side starter Kylie Heim. Ky is one of those players who gets so fired up out there on the court. She is one of our biggest blockers, and leading into her first upperclassman year, we expect a lot of leadership from Kylie. We also anticipate her being a much bigger part of the offense. Lauren Guison will be joining us from Missouri State-West Plains. Lauren's nickname is Goose, and she fires everyone up around her. She will be a huge energizing spark plug for us this season. She will also push that right side position.”
“Our outside position is completely up for grabs, and we're very excited about what we have coming in. Caitlyn Muder is a juco transfer and was an All-American at Highlands Community College. She's a strong six-rotation player and we're very excited about what she brings to the court. We have Jenna Isaacs coming in from Miami, Florida. She's a 6'0", outside/middle who has experience in both positions. We expect a lot out of Jenna. She's got a great attitude, and one of the strongest work ethics I've ever seen. She's always ready to go. Britni Reed is another incoming freshman from Grimes, Iowa, who was a part of the national runner-up team in the junior Olympics this summer. Britni is a solid six-rotation player. We expect big things from her offensively, and defensively. Lauren Johnson will be a freshman, who is coming from Omaha, Neb. Lauren has done a lot of work hard, and improves every time I see her play. She'll bring more great depth to our outside position.”
Richardson on the defense...
“Defensively we're anchored by two seniors returning seniors who have been here all four years. Marcy Greenwade stepped in as a captain last year and does an exceptional job pushing herself. She was one of our best serve receivers last season, and we anticipate her making a big difference in right back and middle back. Iceley Perry is also a senior who is back and plays primarily left back defense. Iceley is another one who's probably one of our hardest workers and is always willing to do whatever needs to be done. She also has a very strong float serve.
Alyx Glover is from Coffeyville Community College and will be another anchor in our defense. We look for Alyx to make a strong run for the libero position. Alyx has great ball control, she's super vocal, a hard worker, goes for everything, and is just one of those kids who is all over the place. We are so pumped up about Alyx; she's going to do an excellent job back there defensively. We also have two freshmen coming in as well: Kelsey Beyer and Chelsea Levingston. These two will make our defense even deeper. One of our struggles in the past has been finding that consistent defense, and this year we feel much better about our defensive options. Each of these defensive specialists has had experience in various positions on the back row. This is going to bring more ball control to our floor.
Richardson on the upcoming season...
“We're excited and ready. We have a great foundation coming back. We've got two kids that started in the middle coming back, our starting setter back, two defensive players who have manned up the defense and are doing a good job there, and our right side block who has started for the last two years. There are definitely places we'll have to fill, but that's part of the challenge. We have kids that are ready to step up, and earn their time out on the court. It's going to take some time with so many new faces to find that chemistry, but we know this group of young women will be ready for the work it's going to take. Our first game is going to come so fast so we need to get into the gym, and make some huge strides in the first two weeks.”
“Normally we have a theme word or theme phrase, and what we are doing this year is we have let our kids know that throughout the summer they need to be thinking about how they want this season to be. What kind of results are we willing to work for? Their homework was to ask themselves these questions, and come with our theme for the year. Generally the coaching staff sets that, but this year we are doing it a little bit different. I think the girls really need to take ownership of the goals they set for themselves, and each other. I'm excited about giving them that opportunity to take the challenge and make it their own. We really wanted to give them the freedom to decide. I was very anxious to hear their thoughts and their ideas and how we can make this season the best season that SBU volleyball has ever had.
For us, it's pretty simple; we have a t-shirt this year for practice that says 'Get to work.' It doesn't get much simpler then that. We know we have a lot of work to do. We're focused, and keeping our eye on what matters in this program. To go somewhere we've never been, we have to do things we've never done. We're ready to make strides toward that new place!”
The Bearcats open their 2010 season in Lakeland, Fla., on Friday, September 3. They'll battle Montevallo at 1 p.m. (CDT) and the host Florida Southern at 6 p.m. (CDT).
