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RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s volleyball team will open its 2009 season on Friday at the Loyola Invitational in Chicago. The Colonels will open play against Marquette at 5:30 p.m. EKU will face Loyola and Iowa on Saturday.

Five starters from last season’s team return for the 2009 campaign. Lindsey Loescher (5-9, OH), Kate Hendle (5-7, S), Kelsey Rose (5-7, DS), #Abby O’Connor# (5-4, Lib.), and Jill Henneman (5-6, DS) are the returning starters.
 
For the second straight season, the EKU volleyball team was snake bit by injuries in 2008. Five players missed significant time, including four starters.

After a stellar freshman season, outside hitter Amanda Fago missed the entire season. After leading her junior college squad to a national championship, middle blocker Autumn Harms missed her entire first season as a Colonel. Hendle, the team’s only setter, missed the first 12 matches of the season. Loescher, who led the team in kills, missed the final two matches of the season as the team attempted to earn a spot in the conference tournament. Ashley Horak, a key reserve to begin the season but a likely starter after the injuries hit, missed the final 24 matches of the season.

“Injuries have such a long reaching effect on the program,” EKU Head Coach Lori Duncan said. “Not only does it affect our ability to compete in the fall, it also impacts our preparation for the next season because it affects off-season workouts and practices in the spring. The spring is an absolute critical part of the success you have the following season.”

The team has put the bad luck behind them, and is focusing on the future.

A year ago, Duncan had only two returning starters and had welcomed eight newcomers to campus. She begins her 12th season with 11 returning players and three newcomers that will contribute to the team’s success immediately.

“Every season that we’ve done really well, we’ve had a very good strong, healthy spring,” said Duncan. “The spring of 2007 and spring of 2008 we didn’t have enough healthy bodies to compete. This spring we had 11 kids going through it and it is really going to show this fall.”

Once again, Duncan will lead her squad against a challenging non-conference schedule leading up to an 18-match home-and-home conference schedule. EKU will play four matches against teams that advanced to last season’s NCAA tournament. The Colonels will go up against three teams that won their regular season conference title. Eastern will face Marquette, Iowa, South Carolina, Indiana and Ohio in the first three weeks of the season.

“No one in the OVC will play a tougher pre-conference schedule,” Duncan said. “However, I’m convinced that our team is up for it. They’ll raise their game and won’t back off. They want to be pushed.”

The following is a position-by-position look at the 2009 Colonels.

DEFENSIVE SPECIALISTS
After a season learning from one of the top liberos in the nation, former Colonel Brittany Nobilio, O’Connor excelled in her first season as the starter. She led the OVC with an average of 4.813 digs per set and ranked 40th in the nation in the same category. She registered double-digit dig totals in 26 of EKU’s 27 matches and had 20-plus digs 12 times. O’Connor recorded a career-best 32 digs in a five-set match against SIU Edwardsville. Her 515 digs in 2008 was the 10th most ever in one season by a Colonel.

“Abby’s going to lead our team defensively,” Duncan said. “Ball control will determine how much offense we’re able to run. So we’re looking for Abby to be a catalyst in that area. Jill (Henneman), Kelsey (Rose) and Nicole (Mulhall) will be a big part of that as well.”

Rose finished second on the team with 222 digs and second with 18 aces. Henneman started 25 matches as a freshman and finished second on the team with 290 assists and third with 197 digs. Nicole Mulhall saw plenty of action in her first season as a Colonel, finishing with 100 digs and 12 aces.

SETTERS
Despite missing the first 12 matches due to an injury, Hendle concluded the season fourth in the OVC with an average of 9.22 assists per set. She recorded 30 or more assists in 11 of 17 matches, including a season-high 53 assists against SIU Edwardsville.

The Colonels will have some depth at the position this season. Freshman Jessica Mueller joins the team after earning plenty of recognition at Solon High School, where she played her senior season for head coach Liz Guard, a former Eastern Kentucky University All-American.

“It is such a relief, especially after the last two seasons, to have depth at this position,” said Duncan. “Kate (Hendle) is not inexperienced as she was two years ago and she’s not dealing with injuries as she did last year. She has two years of setting the offense under her belt and she’s completely healthy. Jessica is a good athlete and is catching onto the offense quickly.”

MIDDLE BLOCKERS
The Colonels will be happy to have Harms back on the court. As a sophomore she totaled 444 kills, a .360 hitting percentage and a team-best 151 blocks for Kishwaukee College. She’ll be joined up front by freshman Toni Michalski. Hannah Groudle and Jessica Meads will provide depth when not playing on the right side.

“Having seen what she was capable of this past spring, I’m very excited about having Autumn (Harms) healthy and having her lead our attack out of the middle,” Duncan said. “Toni compliments Autumn very well. The two of them will be a nice presence in the middle. We haven’t had this kind of combination the last couple of years.”

Michalski was a four-year letter winner at Munster High School and earned all-conference honors three times.

OUTSIDE HITTERS
Loescher led the team and finished second in the conference with an average of 3.67 kills per set on her way to earning a spot on the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer team. In addition to leading the team in kills, she also led the squad in aces (21) and points (408), was third in digs (197) and fourth in blocks (29).

“Lindsey (Loescher) put up great numbers last year, but she wasn’t 100 percent healthy for much of the second half of the season,” said Duncan. “With better health and more weapons, she’ll be even more effective this year.”

After missing last season due to an injury, Fago will look to improve upon an outstanding freshman season in 2007 when she finished second on the team with 279 kills and 25 aces, third on the squad with 313 points and fourth with 219 digs.

Newcomer Lauren Snyder and junior Chelsea Lee offer plenty of depth outside. Snyder played the past two seasons at NCAA Division I Central Connecticut State where she was twice selected to the all-conference team. Lee saw much more court time her sophomore season and contributed 42 kills and 21 blocks.

“Lindsey, Lauren and Amanda (Fago) will rotate in the outside hitting positions,” said Duncan. “Where last year we were scrambling to find help outside, depth will be the key this year.”

RIGHT SIDE
Meads and Groudle will anchor the right side and fill in occasionally in the middle. Groudle finished her freshman season third on the team with 38 blocks, fourth with 114 kills and fourth with 137 points. Meads had 189 kills and 128 blocks two seasons ago at Kishwaukee College. Michalski will also see some court time on the right side.

“We’ve lacked consistency recently from our right sides,” Duncan said. “The years that we’ve won championships we were getting offense out of our right side. This year the best thing is we have options. We have middles that can play right side and right sides that can play middle.”

The Colonels’ first home match is scheduled for September 24 against Morehead State.