Women’s Volleyball
TWO GOLDEN EAGLES NAMED ALL-CONFERENCE
Senior outside hitter Ali Graham (Pittsburgh/Plum) and sophomore outside hitter Melanie Bull (York/Susquehannock) have been named second-team All-PSAC-West in a vote by the league’s coaches.
Graham concluded a stellar four-year career at Clarion with a strong senior campaign that included 435 kills, the second most on the team, and 494 digs, also the second most on the team, while adding 101 blocks, third most on the team, 78 set assists and 24 service aces.
Bull meanwhile, lead the team with 461 kills and a school-record 602 digs while adding 34 blocks, 38 service aces and 10 set assists.
"Both players deserve the award very much," Clarion’s first-year head coach Tracey Fluharty said. "They both worked very hard during the season, and to be recognized by the other coaches in the conference is a nice reward for them. It is also a good thing for the team, because it is something that helps get the entire team recognition."
GOLDEN EAGLES CONCLUDE SUCCESSFUL SEASON
Led by Graham and Bull, the Golden Eagles recently concluded a very successful season that saw them post a 23-16 overall ranking and a 3-7 mark in the tough PSAC-West. Clarion finished fifth in the last regular season NCAA Division II East Region poll and just missed making the NCAA Playoffs.
The 23 wins for Clarion were the most for the Golden Eagles since the 1992 teams went 24-15 and were also tied for the fifth most wins at the school since 1987. The 1988 team also won 23 games.
"Overall I was extremely pleased with our season, "Fluharty said. "I thought the team played well."
In addition to the team accomplishments, Clarion also saw three players enter their names into the school record book with Graham setting the career digs mark for the Golden Eagles, Bull achieving the single-season digs record and sophomore setter Jackie Hill (Stewartstown/Susquehannock) setting the single-season set assists record.
Graham finished her Clarion career with 1,382 digs besting the previous record of 1,286 set by Christy Boes from 1995-98, while Bull’s 602 digs this season beat the old record of 526 set by Tammi Bills in 1992. Hill finished the season with 1,552 set assists, which topped the previous record of 1,413 set by Karen Banks in 1984.
"I was really happy for the three of them," Fluharty said. "They all worked very hard to achieve the records."
With the end of the season came the end of two quality careers in seniors Graham and Kate Waksmunski (Blossburg/North Penn).
Graham was the ultimate team player in her four years at Clarion. She came to the Golden Eagles as an outside hitter before moving to setter in her sophomore season when Clarion was in need of one. She then returned to outside hitter for her final two seasons. All the while her play never lagged, as she finished in the top five in three career categories and in the top 10 in a fifth category.
In addition to her school record in digs she finished fifth in school history with 917 kills and fifth in school history with 1,601 set assists, while finishing seventh in school history with 152 service aces. She also added 280 blocks in her career. Graham’s name is also sprinkled all through the single-season record book at Clarion. Her 435 kills this season were the fifth most in a season in school history, while her 494 digs were third most in a single season. In 1999 she had 1,272 set assists, the second most assists in a season in school history at the time. The mark is now the fourth best in a single-season at Clarion.
"Ali will be missed," Fluharty said. "She is a very smart player who was a leader both on and off the court. We will miss both her playing ability and her knowledge of the game. She is a very competitive player who is more worried about how the team does than how she does. She was very good at bringing the team together when it looked like things were falling apart."
Waksmunski was a valuable defensive specialist in her four years with the Golden Eagles. This season she finished with 264 digs to go along with a team-high 55 service aces. She also had 10 set assists and three kills. In her career she finished with 645 digs, 125 service aces, 14 set assists and seven kills.
"What I will miss most about Kate is her overall determination and hard work," Fluharty said. "She always gave 100 percent whether it be in practice or during the game. She accepted her roll and was always trying to make herself a better defensive player."
While the Golden Eagles will miss the services of Graham and Waksmunski a talented group of players will return next season. The group includes one junior and five sophomores who saw plenty of action in 2001.
The junior, middle blocker Beth Stalder (Bethel Park/Bethel Park), had yet another successful season for the Golden Eagles. She was second on the team with 161 blocks, the third straight season that she has had more than 100 blocks, and fourth on the team with 340 kills.
Those numbers were just a continuation of what has been a solid three-year career for Clarion that has her ranked 9th in school history with 856 kills and 5th in school history with 405 blocks.
The five sophomores include Bull, Hill, outside hitter Ashley Riordan (Mt. Vernon, Ind./Jennings County), middle blocker Alissa McKinley (Johnstown/Richland) and defensive specialist Laurie Hepler (Cochranton/Cochranton).
In addition to her school-record 1,552 set assists, Hill added 425 digs, 86 kills, 74 blocks and 39 service aces. She now has 2,960 career set assists, good for third in school history behind Jamie Soboleski (2,962 - 1996-98) and Wendy Ellenberger (2,990 - 1989-92).
Riordan, McKinley and Hepler also had solid seasons for the Golden Eagles.
Riordan, despite missing some playing time with an elbow injury, finished third on the team in kills (355) and digs (446) while adding 45 blocks and 47 service aces, while McKinley led the team with 170 blocks to go along with 272 kills. Hepler was a key defensive specialist for Clarion digging 266 balls to go along with 19 service aces.
"The good thing about having all of these players back is that they have played together and worked together as a team," Fluharty said. "The biggest thing for them going into next year is going to be everyone clicking and focused on the same goals. Because they know each other and have played with each other, I think that is going to make us a stronger overall team."
In addition to the core of players Clarion has coming back, the Golden Eagles also had three freshman in 2001 who showed signs of solid play during the season. The freshmen are Colleen Sherk (Wilmington, Del./Concord), 8 games, 6 kills, Tonya Zatko (Leesport/Schuylkill Valley), 20 games, 9 kills, 3 digs & 4 blocks, and Sara Heyl (Midlothian, Va./Clover Hill), 60 games, 18 kills & 10 digs.
"I am expecting a lot from my freshmen next year," Fluharty said. "I have told them what I expect from each of them, and I have no doubt they will all come back ready to play and compete for the open starting job."
While Clarion was happy with their successful season in 2001, Fluharty expects even more from the Golden Eagles in 2002.
"If we can bring everyone back next year and stay healthy, we expect to be able to get better next season," Fluharty said. "We expect to have a better overall and conference record, we expect to be able to move up in the conference standings and we expect to make the NCAA Playoffs. I think with what we should have returning and what we have the potential of brining in that we can accomplish these goals. I think having so many players who have played together for a couple of seasons can only be a benefit to us."
GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES: Shannon Bowen was the last Clarion player to gain All-Conference honors being named 2nd team All-PSAC-West in 1999 ... The 23 wins for the Golden Eagles marked the first time since the 1997 team went 20-19 that Clarion won 20 or more games in a season ... Since 1987 the Golden Eagles have won 20 or more games seven times with the top year being the 1989 team that went 27-10.
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by Chris Rossetti