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Volleyball squad squares up for new net success
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

The Metro State volleyball team returns this season with an eye on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference prize. After last season’s role as a bridesmaid, this season the Roadrunner women hope to be the RMAC tournament’s bride.

After a slow 4-5 start last season, Metro went on a tear, winning 17 of 19 games leading them to the RMAC championship game against nemesis Nebraska-Kearney. On their home turf, the Lopers brought down the Roadrunners in three sets to clinch the RMAC championship. It was Metro’s third loss of the season to the conference’s No.1 team.

In the Roadrunner’s defense, the Lopers went on to host the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight and lost to Grand Valley State in the Division-II National Championship game.

“I think the conference is going to look very different this year,” Metro head volleyball coach Debbie Hendricks said. “Kearney graduated, I think, five starters last year and they really had to reload this year.”

However, youth alone won’t stop the defending champions.

“They’ve got a lot of young players on the floor but you can never count Kearney out,” Hendricks added. “But I think it levels the playing field in the conference and it’s anybody’s year, so why not ours?”

So the past is gone and Hendricks’ women are focused on the future. The Roadrunners come into the 2006 season having lost only two starters from last year. On top of that, Metro’s returning core of seven players includes five upperclassmen and four previous starters.

“We are going to have a pretty experienced lineup on the floor,” Hendricks said. “No question about that.”

Senior Stefanie Allison dominated the court last season as an outside hitter, accumulating 457 kills and 175 digs on her way to All-RMAC and All-Region honors. Six-foot senior Megan Wittenburg, an All-RMAC honorable mention who was second on the team in kills, brings her middle-blocker skills back to the hardwood alongside senior Sheena Bohannon, who led the Roadrunners last year with 84 blocks.

Other returning veterans include six-foot-tall outside hitter Julie Green and starting libero Breezy Tuck, who had 237 digs in 2005. With such experience on hand, the Roadrunners have all the makings of a team destined for RMAC glory.

Hendricks is also adding freshman recruit Stephanie Levi to the mix of seniors at the setter position.

“There are some challenges, obviously, with her getting used to the system and her player personnel, but she’s a very good setter,” Hendricks said. “I think we’re in a good position to bring in a freshman setter.”

The Roadrunners open the season in the Ferris State Invitational on Aug. 25 and 26 in Big Rapids, Mich., and then return home for seven non-conference games leading up through September, when Metro will host the Colorado Premier Challenge along with Regis University on Sept. 1 and 2.

The Roadrunners then begin RMAC competition against Western New Mexico and Fort Lewis on Sept. 8 at the Auraria Event Center.