ASU Volleyball Game Notes in PDF Format


The Rambelles open the 2010 season at the Florida Southern Classic in Lakeland, Fla. ASU will battle it out with Florida Southern, Missouri S&T, Southwest Baptist and Montevallo in the tournament which runs from Thursday, Sept. 2 - Saturday, Sept. 4.

The Matches
• Florida Southern: The 'Belles travel to Lakeland, Fla., to open the 2010 season against Florida Southern at the Florida Southern Classic. It is the season opener for both squads. The Moccasins hold a 7-1 advantage in the all-time series versus the Rambelles. This is the first meeting between the two teams since the 2006 season. Four years ago, the 'Belles dropped a 3-0 contest to the then-No. 11 Moccasins. ASU's lone victory over Florida Southern was in 1981 with Kathleen Brasfield, the current athletic director, at the helm.

• Missouri S&T: ASU will meet Missouri S&T in the Florida Southern Classic on Friday, Sept. 3. This just the second meeting between the two programs and ASU holds a 1-0 advantage. The 'Belles defeated the Lady Miners last season, 3-2 on Sept. 11 in Omaha, Neb.

• Southwest Baptist: The Rambelles and the Bearcats square off on Saturday morning at Jenkins Field House. Southwest Baptist leads the all-time series against Angelo State, 2-1. The Bearcats defeated the 'Belles, 3-1, last season in Topeka, Kan. It has been five seasons since ASU swept Southwest Baptist in a hard-fought contest (32-30, 30-27, 31-29).

• Montevallo: Angelo State and Montevallo will meet for the first time since 1984 on Saturday afternoon, concluding the Florida Southern Tournament. The Falcons swept the Rambelles in a 3-0 heartbreaker more than 25 years ago, in the lone contest between the two squads. 

The Coaches
• Angelo State: Chuck Waddington (Rensselaer, 1993) took over the ASU program in 2008 and has since guided the 'Belles to a 39-28 overall mark. Waddington previously served as the assistant coach at Florida Southern from 2003-2008.

• Florida Southern: Jill Stephens (Florida Southern, 1995) enters her tenth season as the Moccasin's head coach and holds a 211-102 overall record. The former volleyball standout, held an assistant coaching position at Florida Atlantic before returning to her alma mater.

• Missouri S&T: Jason Holt (Western Oregon, 1995) is looking to put his stamp on the Lady Miners volleyball program as their first head coach in history. The Grant Pass, Ore., native has spent time as the assistant coach at the University of North Dakota and Fort Hays State, where he helped resurrect the volleyball programs. Holt brings a 19-85 mark to the Florida Southern Classic.

• Southwest Baptist: Kelly Richardson (Evangel, 2004) begins her fourth season with the Bearcats and has accumulate a 33-68 record. Prior to her experience with Southwest Baptist, the Springfield, Mo., native led the Republic (Mo.) High School volleyball program to a third place finish in the Missouri State Championships.

• Montevallo: Katie O'Brien (Iowa, 1999) returns for her third season with the Falcons after putting together a 41-32 mark at the helm of the Montevallo program. After an outstanding career at Iowa, O'Brien led Piedmont College (Ga.) for eight seasons where she guided the Lady Lions to their first-ever NCAA Division III National Tournament in 2007.

The Program
• The 'Belles are coming off a 19-14 (10-3 LSC) season in which they rode a late-season six-game win streak into the 2009 Lone Star Conference tournament and reached the semifinals before falling to Abilene Christian University in a five-game showdown that ended ASU's season.
• ASU Volleyball was picked to finish third in the conference behind West Texas A&M and Abilene Christian University.
• Head coach Chuck Waddington added assistant coach Qi Wang to his staff over the summer. Wang brings a wealth of experience to ASU as he was the former head coach at Florida Tech, Northern Michigan and Truman State. The China native led Truman State to the national title game in 2002 and 2004, and was named Division II National Coach of the Year in 2002.
• Former East Central standout Holly Hicks also has joined the 'Belles coaching staff as graduate assistant. Hicks enters her first year of coaching with numerous hours of playing time on her resume. The Round Rock, Texas, native competed as a member of the Austin Juniors, one of the top club programs in the state, and earned an athletic scholarship to Texas Tech.
• The Rambelles will return five starters including All-LSC First Team selection and LSC Freshman of the Year, Chelsea Gibson.
• Sophomore setter Alex Woolsey will be back in blue and gold in 2010 after an outstanding freshman campaign in which she led the 'Belles with 998 assists.

This Week's Opponents
Florida Southern: Located in Lakeland, Fla., Florida Southern returns three starters (Anne Pietkiewicz, Kelly Sherman and Lauren Huber) and their libero (Anna Niebuhr). Niebuhr, a junior from Manitou Springs, Colo., will be back on the court for the Mocs after leading the team in digs last season with 291. Head coach Jill Stephens begins her tenth season with the Mocs after registering her 200th career victory last season. Stephens, a former standout at Florida Southern, opens the 2010 season with a 211-102 overall mark. The Moccasins were picked to finish fourth in the Sunshine State Conference preseason poll.

Missouri S&T: In just its fourth season of existence, Missouri S&T volleyball looks to bounce back from a 10-27 season last year. Head coach Jason Holt returns senior libero and defensive specialist Bridget Williams who led the Lady Miners in digs (599) and senior middle hitter Samantha Klump whose 143 total blocks were a team-best. Located in Rolla, Mo., Missouri S&T belongs to the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Southwest Baptist: Coming off of 12-24 overall mark and a 5-15 MIAA record, Southwest Baptist returns junior middle hitter Ashley Jurgensmeyer who posted a team-high 377 kills, a .303 hitting percentage and 127 total blocks. Senior setter Brianna Wallace will also be back on the court after registering a team-best 1272 assists and 24 service aces which was good for second on the squad. At the helm for Southwest Baptist is fourth-year head coach Kelly Richardson.

Montevallo: Head coach Katie O'Brien and her squad look to build on last season's 20-14 record (8-6 Peach Belt Conference) with returning libero and defensive specialist Brittany Wilson and setter Anna Garrison. Wilson, a sophomore from Floyds Knobs, Ind., led the Falcons in digs (527) and service aces (55), while Garrison, a junior from LaVergne, Tenn., posted a team-high 1276 assists and 341 digs which was ranked second on the team.

The Florida Connection
• Head coach Chuck Waddington arrived in San Angelo, Texas, after spending five years as the assistant volleyball coach at Florida Southern University. The Johnstown, N.Y., native coached under current Florida Southern head coach Jill Stephens, who Waddington considers a close friend and mentor.
• Assistant volleyball coach Qi Wang came to ASU after a two-year stint as head coach at Florida Tech. He led the Panthers to a 21-12 record in his first season, quite an improvement from their previous 2-31 mark. In his second season at the helm, Wang guided Florida Tech to a 20-14 mark. In 2007, Wang and the Panthers set the school-record for most consecutive victories in a season (11) and tied the school-record for wins (21).

All-Conference Honors
• Five members of the Rambelles volleyball team collected Lone Star Conference accolades at the end of the 2009 season.
• Alaina Sivells and Chelsea Gibson were each named to the LSC First Team, while Gibson picked up the LSC Freshman of the Year award.
• Sivells and Gibson became the first two ASU volleyball players to earn First Team honors since the 2004 season.
• Caroline Cleveland garnered All-Lone Star Conference Honorable Mention after registering 0.36 service aces per set, 2.15 kills per set and 2.54 digs per set.
• Kimber Duncan was selected to the Conference's All-Academic Team as well as the Commissioner's Honor Roll.
• Kayla Smith was named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll, as well.

The New Kids
• There will be half a dozen new faces on the court for the Rambelles this season.
• Five freshman and one transfer student will make up the incoming class for ASU Volleyball.
• Freshman defensive specialist and libero, Teal Mahan, will join the 'Belles on the court this season after playing three years at Tascosa High School (Amarillo, Texas) and her senior year at Midland High School.
• Freshman outside hitter and right side, Julie Kennedy, hails from Brownwood, Texas, where she garnered all-state honors on two separate occassions.
•Maddie Huth, a freshman from The Colony, Texas, is a middle blocker and right side. She was an all-state and all-academic student-athlete and helped The Colony High School win back-to-back bi-district titles in 2008 and 2009.
• Shelby Warick, a freshman from San Angelo, Texas, was a standout defensive specialist and libero at Central High School. Warick was named to the Academic All-District Team both her junior and senior year. She garnered tournament MVP honors at the Nita Vannoy Tournament her senior year.
• Freshman Kaelen Valdez is a power-hitting outside hitter from Helotes, Texas. The O'Connor high school product helped the Panthers to four consecutive district 28-5A titles and was named the Northside Tournament MVP as a sophomore and junior.
• Junior transfer Debbie Ohl comes to San Angelo, Texas, from Hutchinson, Kan., where she spent two seasons as a starting middle blocker for Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. Ohl was selected to the First Team All-Region VI and First Team All-Jayhawk Conference on two separate occasions.

Cleveland Rocks
• Sophomore outside hitter Caroline Cleveland was only one of two 'Belles to appear in all 33 matches last season.
• The Abilene, Texas, native led the team with 38 service aces and finished second in digs with 274.
• Cleveland garnered honorable mention from the Lone Star Conference after recording seven double-doubles on the season.
• After an outstanding performance in the conference tournament, which included a season-best 22 kills against Texas Woman's University, Cleveland was named to the All-Conference Team. 

Setting the Bar
• Sophomore setter Alex Woolsey is coming off a stellar freshman season in which she tallied 998 assists on the year.
• She appeared in all 33 matches and started 32 for the 'Belles as she was twice named Lone Star Conference Setter of the Week.
• Woolsey notched a team-high 10 double-doubles on the year as she led ASU in assists (998) and recorded 230 digs which was good for third.
• In just one season of action, Woolsey ranks eighth in assists in the ASU record books.

LSC Preseason Poll
The Rambelles were chosen third in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll after finishing the 2009 season with a 19-14 overall mark and a conference record of 10-3. ASU was picked to finish behind West Texas A&M and Abilene Christian.

Double Vision
• Setter Alex Woolsey led the 'Belles with 10 double-doubles on the year. The sophomore from Plano, Texas, notched a season-high 53 assists and 15 digs against Western New Mexico on Sept. 4., helping ASU to a 3-2 victory.
• Caroline Cleveland registered seven double-doubles on the season for the 'Belles and Claire Chomout notched four.

Can You Dig It?
• With the loss of Kimber Duncan, the team's leader in digs (389), the 'Belles have some big shoes to fill. However, with versitile players such as Caroline Cleveland (274 digs), Alex Woolsey (230 digs) and Claire Chomout (181 digs) that doesn't seem to be a problem. ASU will also have a handful of new players who can contribute defensively in Teal Mahan and Shelby Warick.