Sometimes a little disappointment one year can go along way toward motivating a team the next season. That is what the Clarion University women’s volleyball team is planning on doing in 2002 after disappointingly missing the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2001 despite a 23-16 overall record.

The Golden Eagles, who open the season Aug. 31-Sept. 1 at the Haverford Tournament, finished with their best record since the 1992 season last year and their first 20-win season since the 1997 campaign. And with seven of the 11 players back from last season, second-year head coach Tracey Fluharty believes her team is in a position to make some noise in 2002.

"Our goal is to finish first in the PSAC-West, and to go to both the PSAC and NCAA playoffs," Fluharty said. "We didn’t make the playoffs last year because of one game. It is going to be different this year. The team knows, especially the upperclassmen, we will do whatever we have to do to get there. We will have more wins than last year. We will have a higher conference record than last year, and we will go to the playoffs."

A lot of Fluharty’s confidence stems from the Golden Eagles having a talented core of returning players to go along with what looks to be a very talented freshmen class.

"I know we have a lot of extremely talented freshmen," Fluharty said. "If we are able to put their talents together with the upperclassmen’s talents on the floor, chances are we will be a very strong team.

"Once our freshmen adjust to the leadership we have from our upperclassmen and once they learn how to become pure athletes, they are going to have that chance to pull it all together on the court. When they do we are doing to be phenomenal."

The leadership displayed by the upperclassmen should be the strength of the team.

"We have a lot of talent with the upperclassmen," Fluharty said. "The positive attitude and the pushing efforts of the upperclassmen are what is going to make us strong.

"Our upperclassmen are challenging our freshmen every day out on the court. The freshmen now have more pressure on them to become better players. The upperclassmen would never slack for a minute."

While the talent is spread out among the entire group of upperclassmen, a few of the returning players have already written their names in the Clarion record book including junior setter Jackie Hill (Seven Valley/Susquehannock), junior outside hitter Melanie Bull (York/Susquehannock) and senior middle blocker Beth Stalder (Bethel Park/Bethel Park).

Last season Hill set the Golden Eagles single-season record for set assists with 1,552. With 2,960 career set assists, she is third on the school’s all-time assist list with 2,960 and is only 30 assists shy of tying the school record set by Wendy Ellenberger (1989-92). Hill also added 86 kills and 425 digs in 2001.

"It is very important to have a setter like Jackie on the team," Fluharty said. "The setter is basically what keeps the team together. The setter is responsible for calling all the plays. The setter is responsible for getting the ball to every single hitter."

A lot of Hill’s assists have turned into kills for Bull, her high-school teammate, who in 2001 recorded 461, the second most in a single season in Clarion history. Bull, an all-around player, also set the Golden Eagles single-season record for digs with 602 in 2001. For her career, she has 794 kills and 900 digs and is 123 kills short of entering the top five in school history. Bull is also 482 digs short of tying the school’s career record for digs of 1,382 set by Ali Graham (1998-01).

"Melanie knows the court, and she knows how to play the court," Fluharty said. "The number of digs she had last year was unbelievable. She will probably have even more this year. She continues to improve everyday."

Stalder, who has been a steady player for the Golden Eagle in her first three seasons, is fifth on the school’s all-time list in blocks with 405. Last season she had 161 blocks to go along with a career best 340 kills. In her career she has 856 kills, 61 shy of entering the top five and 144 short of becoming only yhe third player in school history with 1,000 kills.

"Beth is a strong player both mentally and physically," Fluharty said. "She will be a leader on the court."

Other key returning players for the Golden Eagles include outside hitters Sara Heyl (Midlothian, Va./Clover Hill - 18 kills, 127 digs) and Tonya Zatko (Leesport/Schuylkill Valley - 9 kills, 4 blocks), middle hitter Colleen Sherk (Wilmington, Del./Concord - 6 kills, 6 blocks) and libero Laurie Hepler (Cochranton/Cochranton - 266 dig).

Libero, which has been played at the Division I and international levels, is a new position added to Division II volleyball this season. Liberos, which are a lot like defensive specialists, will wear a different colored jersey than the rest of the team. They do not have to rotate in and out of the match, but they must play in the back row at all times, and they are not allowed to go on the attack. It is primarily a defensive and passing position. A team doesn’t have to use a Libero if it chooses not to at the start of a match. A team using a Libero gets 12 substitutions during the match, while a team not using one gets 18. One team in a match can use a Libero while the other team doesn’t.

"We played it during spring ball, and it worked really well for us," Fluharty said.

In addition to the seven returning players, the Golden Eagles have a strong group of freshmen including outside hitters Heather Byrne (Van Wert, Ohio/Lincolnview), Sara Llyod (Sterling, Va./Stonewall Jackson) and Megan Rodgers (Chesterland, Ohio/West Geauga), middle hitter Karen Stoklosa (Hamburg, NY/Frontier), setter Ashley Kreiner (London, Ohio/London), defensive specialist Carrie Wagner (Rootstown,Ohio/Rootstown) and libero Erin Cowan (Julian/Bald Eagle Area).

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES: Clarion’s first PSAC-West match is Sept. 17 at California and its first home match is Sept. 24 against Lock Haven ... This season the Golden Eagles will have two PSAC Crossover weekends where they will face teams from the PSAC-West ... The first crossover weekend is Sept. 27-28 at California and the second is Oct. 11-12 at Cheyney ... Clarion will once again be hosting the Holiday Inn Classic Oct. 4-5 ... Clarion’s record last season was the best since the 1992 team went 24-15 ... The 20 wins were the first since the 1997 team went 20-19.