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News
MVNU Women's Volleyball Team Set to
Attack New Season
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (8-15-2012) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University women's
volleyball team cannot wait to get the 2012
season under way as the Lady Cougars are set
to begin the new campaign this weekend at
the Concordia University Tournament in Ann
Arbor, Mich.
MVNU is coming off its first losing
season since 1986 - a string a 24
consecutive winning campaigns - as the Lady
Cougars posted a 13-23 overall record last
year that included a 5-13 Mid-Central
College Conference mark in the team's first
year in the league as the team suffered
through numerous injuries.
Head coach
Paul Swanson, who is entering his 29th
season as the head coach at MVNU and is the
NAIA's all-time winningest coach with a
978-352 record overall, is excited about the
group of players he has assembled on this
year's squad.
"I am really thankful
for the high quality people and players that
we have on this team," said Swanson. "We
have a great group and they are working
hard. It is fun to come to each practice to
see them interact and improve."
Setting the attack for the Lady Cougars will
be senior Lauren Percival, who enters her
third season as the starting setter. She was
the American Mideast Conference Setter of
the Year two years ago and earned a spot on
the MCC Second Team last year as she
compiled 945 assists and was second for MVNU
with 374 digs. Freshman Shayla Pierce will
serve as her backup.
"Having Lauren
in the setter role gives us a lot of
confidence," said Swanson. "She has had an
outstanding career and works hard to make us
better. Shayla is a good player, too, and we
are fortunate to have two quality setters."
Senior Gina Porto and juniors Kelly Mast
and Kendra Votaw are all three options at
middle hitter for MVNU. Porto returned
midway through last year from a knee injury
and averaged 2.75 kills, while Mast added
1.22 kills per set. Votaw led the team with
3.63 kills per set before a knee injury
ended her season prematurely, but she is
looking to bounce back and contribute right
away as this year unfolds.
Five
different players enter this season as
potential outside hitters for the Lady
Cougars. Senior Haley Nofziger averaged 1.89
kills last year in this role and could be
joined by Votaw, Pierce, sophomore Molly
Gerber (1.21 kills/set), and senior Kaylee
Hewitt. MVNU will also have options at right
side hitter where Gerber, Hewitt, and Pierce
are each possibilities.
"We have
plenty of options at all of the hitter
positions," said Swanson. "There is lots of
competition right now and we need some
players to step up and claim their roles."
The Lady Cougars also have five players
vying for time in the back row led by
Hewitt, who served as the team's libero for
most of last season and led the team with
456 digs. Senior Paige Hagans added 330 digs
in her first season on the team a year ago
and played in all 125 sets, and junior
Morgan Pridemore tallied 208 digs. Freshmen
Emily Oberschlake and Kelly McQuade are also
competing for playing time.
"The key
to our success as it is pretty much every
year will be our play in the back row," said
Swanson. "We need our ball control to be
good enough to help us compete in every
match. If we can compete in the back row,
then we will be able to compete in this very
strong conference."
MVNU will get the
season under way with a pair of matches on
Friday at Concordia as the Lady Cougars will
face Rochester (Mich.) College at 6 p.m. and
Lawrence Institute of Technology (Mich.) at
8 p.m. Then, on Saturday, MVNU will take on
Lourdes College at 11 a.m. followed by a
tournament match to be determined.
The Lady Cougars will play in the Illinois
Institute of Technology Tournament on August
24-25. Other non-conference matches will be
against Kenyon College, Otterbein
University, Cedarville University, a
tri-match at Shawnee State University, and a
trip to the Cornerstone (Mich.) University
Tournament on October 26-27.
MVNU
will also compete for the Crossroads League
title as the MCC was renamed this summer.
Indiana Wesleyan University is the preseason
favorite and ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, while
Taylor (Ind.) University is right behind at
No. 11. Grace (Ind.) College also received
votes in the poll, and Bethel (Ind.)
College, Spring Arbor (Mich.) University,
the University of Saint Francis (Ind.),
Marian (Ind.) University, Huntington (Ind.)
University, and Goshen (Ind.) College will
each provide challenging opposition as the
Lady Cougars play each team home and away in
the battle for the conference title.
"We are better this year," said Swanson.
"Our returning players are healthy and we
have some good new players who have made us
stronger. We play in a strong conference
that is challenging, but we are looking
forward to being competitive in every match
and finding ways to win."
Lady Cougars' 2012
schedule:
http://www.mvnu.edu/sports/nazvb/news/results.asp
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