Aug. 17, 2005

Northeastern Junior College Volleyball got the season underway with some three-a-day practices to begin the 2005 year.

The team reported to campus Sunday afternoon and situated themselves in the residence halls before "getting after it" Monday morning. "Monday is a day that we use to get all of the asessments/ physicals, and other fitness tests done. We like to see where all of the players come in so we have an idea on what we really need to focus on", stated assistant coach Rob Haley. "We feel it is important to have a base to get our players started or continued in the right direction."

It won't take very long for the Northeastern Junior College (NJC) Plainswomen volleyball players to see their immediate competition since they open the 2005 season Sat., Aug. 27 by hosting the South-Sub Region Tournament.

NJC will play 5 matches in the Bank of Colorado Event Center during the day, opening up against Lamar Community College at 8:30 a.m. At 10 a.m. the Plainswomen will take on Otero Junior College and at 1 p.m. NJC will face Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) in a re-match of last year's Region IX South Tournament championship match.

At 2:30 p.m. NJC will play Trinidad State College and the final match for the Plainswomen will be at 7 p.m. against McCook, Neb., Community College.

NJC has 6 sophomores on the 2005 roster, 3 who are returning from the team last year that posted a 37-8 mark. Those returning sophomores are Lindsey Wilson, an outside hitter from Cortez, Jimilia McNeal, a middle hitter from Las Vegas, Nev., and Ashley Murphey, a middle hitter from Longmont.

Sophomores joining the team this year are Cidney Legg, a transfer setter from Redlands Community College, Janie Elkins, a transfer outside hitter from the University of West Georgia and Shelby Heggie, a transfer outside hitter from the University of Wyoming.

Freshmen on the team are Erin Holbrook, a libero from Fort Collins; Jenna Wagner, a libero from Otis; Callie Vrooman, a transfer right side hitter from the University of Northern Colorado; Stacy Manweiler, a setter from Windsor; Ashley Kauffman, an outside hitter from Fort Morgan; Mandi Robertson, a right side hitter from Rangely; and Isabela Lachowski, a middle hitter from Curitiba PR, Brazil. Also joining the Plainswomen this year for her first season is Randa Beardsley, a defensive specialist from Sterling. Beardsley is a sophomore at NJC but was unable to play her freshman year due to a knee injury she suffered in high school during the basketball season.

So many spots are wide open on this year's team so it should provide some solid competition in practice. Therefore, NJC Coach Marci Henry is pleased with her sophomore leadership along with the talent this year's freshman class displays.

"It's really hard to say what the make-up of our team is or what to expect because we really haven't had a true practice yet," she said. "But we do have good height, good experience from our sophomores and I think our freshmen coming in will gel real well with them.

"Since we do have quite a bit of depth we'll see a situation where players will be fighting for positions each and every week. We have several freshmen who should make an immediate impact and others who still need more training before they really shine through. But when October comes around we should be pretty solid."

NJC does have quite a bit of size at the net with 8 players 6-0 tall or over. Standing at 6-0 are Vrooman, Kauffman, Robertson and Wilson. Heggie and Lachowski are at 6-3 and McNeal and Murphey tower at 6-4.

Henry expects McNeal and Murphey to provide solid leadership and experience at the middle of the net, especially since NJC graduated All-American and All-Region IX South selection Emily Sakis. Lachowski will also be fighting for a spot in the middle.

The spot for the outside hitters is very wide open as Henry pointed out that NJC is very deep in that area.

"We are returning Lindsey Wilson, who did a great job for us last year," Henry said. "Janie Elkins played with us in the Spring. Shelby Heggie and Ashley Kauffman will also add depth to our outside and all 4 of those girls are very talented."

First off Henry will need to find a setter to replace Casey Beardsley, an All-Region IX South selection last year. Beardsley was also named to the All-Region South Tournament Team last season.

That is where Legg comes in, who already has a year of college setting experience under her belt.

"Cidney brings a lot of experience to our team this year, and that should really help us," Henry pointed out. "We also have a very talented freshman in Stacy Manweiler, who helped lead Windsor to the Final Four in the 4A state tournament last year. " She is definitely used to setting big outside hitters like we have. She still has a few things to learn, but I look for her to make a big impact as well."

Defensively, NJC will need to replace Breezy Tuck at the libero position, who received the same post season honors as Beardsley. "It's always tough to replace a libero, especially when we have had a couple of good ones in the last 2 years with Breezy and Amber Piel," Henry said. "This year we recruited a freshman in Erin Holbrook especially for that reason.

"She played a lot of club volleyball and has a lot of experience. She doesn't quit on balls and she goes after everything and I think with a little more experience she will be right up there as well."

As usual, the toughest competition for NJC in the Region IX South will be WNCC as the Lady Cougars return All-American outside hitter Patty Azevedo, along with several other players from last year's team. WNCC defeated NJC to capture the Region IX South Tournament title last year.

"Azevedo is a very good player, and WNCC is well coached with some added depth this season so we will have to do a better job defensively against them this year," Henry said. "We have a bigger front line this year where we can possibly be a better blocking team than we were last season."

Henry is also looking for help on defense from Beardsley. "We're looking for Randa to play a defensive role for us this year," Henry said. "We actually have additional substitutions this year (3), so we will be able to rely on our defensive people a little more if we stay with our 5-1 offense." Henry pointed out that 3 more substitutions will allow her to specialize more during each match.

"Before it was pretty difficult to run a 6-2 offense," she said. "With the 3 extra substitutions that gives us the opportunity to do that.

"This also gives us the opportunity to specialize more in the back row, so that should really help us." Getting to the NJCAA National Tournament in November is once again the major goal for Henry and the Plainswomen.

"That's what we want," she said. "Every year when we recruit we're thinking that the previous year we lost to Western Nebraska and we look at areas where we need to improve to beat them.

"They have a lot of returning players this year, so that could be an advantage for us because looking at our roster, they really don't have any idea what we'll be like. So getting past them and getting to the nationals and finishing in the top 10 is still our biggest goal."