April 18, 2006

STERLING - Call it a celebration. Or maybe the circle of life in junior college volleyball. Call it the reward for a strong season, stamped with urgency on repeating the result next year.

Call it what you want, but Wednesday, the Northeastern Junior College volleyball said goodbye to one era while ushering in the other.

Four Northeastern sophomores signed letters of intent to four year schools and one new recruit signed on as the newest Plainswoman at the same time.

The new recruit is Kendra Buckmaster, a 6-foot middle hitter from Longmont High School. Buckmaster knows Sterling because of her days in the Northern Conference. Now she'll make the city her home.

Of the sophomores who signed, All-American middle hitter Shelby Heggie made the biggest splash, signing at Long Island University, which won a game in the NCAA tournament last season before bowing out in the second round. The Blackbirds have won the last two Northeast Conference titles.

Middle hitter Ashley Murphey signed on with Morehead State, a division I school in Morehead, Ken.

Libero Lindsey Wilson signed with Colorado State University-Pueblo and outside hitter Janie Elkins signed with Adams State College in Alamosa. Both schools are members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, meaning that Wilson and Elkins will play each other next season as former teammates.

To mark the signings, most of the Northeastern volleyball team attended the ceremony in the foyer of Jackson Edwards Arena. When Buckmaster signed, the Plainswomen applauded. She is just the latest in what is turning out to be a solid recruiting class for head coach Marci Henry and assistant Rob Haley.

Buckmaster will help fill the front-row void left by the departure of Heggie, Murphey and Elkins.

"I'll just try to do my best to get to that level," she said. "I really liked the campus and the coaches. It was just a really good fit at Northeastern."

Buckmaster shunned the advances of schools like Lamar and Otero to sign with the Plainswomen.

Heggie picked Long Island after visiting Auburn, Washington State, Arkansas State and West Florida. After spending her freshman year as a starter at the University of Wyoming in the Mountain West Conference, and then transferring to Northeastern, she was worried more about fit than school prestige. It just so happened that the school that fit her best was the one with the highest volleyball profile.

"I like the philosophy there," Heggie said. "I got a good feeling that it would fit best."

Elkins' decision to head to Adams came down to the school's size.

"I like the small-school atmosphere," she said. "I like the coach and got along well with the players."

Meanwhile, Wilson, who served as the captain of the Plainswomen last season, wasn't sure if she would continue her career. One of her concerns was balancing volleyball with her nursing major. During last season Wilson said that academics would play a big role in decision. However, she began looking at Colorado State's nursing program and found that she could play volleyball as well.

"I was looking at their school for nursing," she said. "It is a lot like NJC. There is a lot of support through the college."