GOLDEN EAGLES SEEK SIXTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON

            The Clarion University women’s volleyball team will be looking to extend its school record for consecutive 20-win seasons to six years when it takes the court in 2006.

            The season gets underway at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Gannon.

It will be a year of change for the Golden Eagles, who will be under the direction of interim head coach Jodi Pezek Burns.

            Burns, a star player (1987-90) and head coach (1995-98) at Clarion, takes over for Tracey Fluharty, who resigned over the summer after leading the Eagles to a 23-12 overall record and 1-9 PSAC-West finish in 2005.

            “I’m excited to be back at Clarion,” Burns said. “I have a lot of fond memories of my time both as a player and a coach here and am looking forward to creating new memories with an outstanding group of players.”

            Burns inherits a program that has gone 132-52 over the past five years with three NCAA Division II playoff appearances and one PSAC Playoff appearance. Clarion just missed making the NCAA Playoffs for a fourth consecutive seasons in 2005.

            “We would like to return to the postseason,” Burns said. “The players have worked hard during the off-season and have used last year as a motivation. I believe there is a strong nucleus of returning players as well as some talented new comers.”

Clarion returns three of its top four kill leaders from last year including its top two.

            Junior Sarah Fries led the Eagles with 332 kills while adding 76 digs and 58 blocks.

            Fellow junior Christina Steiner added 327 kills, 254 digs, 46 blocks and 21 service aces, while senior Lindsay Banner from nearby Clarion High had 201 kills, 80 blocks and 50 digs in a breakout season.

            “It’s definitely a plus to have those three offensive leaders returning,” Burns said. “We will look to them to provide leadership both on and off the court.”

            The Golden Eagles are also looking to get solid offensive contributions from returning juniors Lauren Wiefling (148 kills, 47 digs), an outside hitter, and Tressa Dvorsky (34 games, 95 digs), a middle hitter, as well as two red-shirt sophomores who missed last season with injuries – Amanda Angermeier and Lindsay Wiefling, Lauren’s twin sister.

On defense, Clarion returns two of its top defensive players from 2005 in junior Libero Vicky Gentile and senior defensive specialist Jenn Sacco.

            Gentile, who was an All-Region performer as a freshman when she set the school record with 711 digs in 2004, led Clarion with 567 digs last year, the fourth most in school history. She is already seventh in school history with 1,278 career digs and is just 222 digs shy of becoming just the second player in school history to have 1,500 career digs (Melanie Bull holds the school record with 2,000). Her 4.81 digs per game was the sixth best mark in the PSAC in ’05.

            Sacco had a breakout junior season recording 405 digs, the third most of the team, and now has 785 career digs, the 18^th most in school history.

            “We will look to both Vicky and Jenn to lead the way on defense,” Burns said. “They have both proven that they can do the job with their performances the past couple of seasons.”

One area where the Golden Eagles don’t have a lot of experience is setter.

            Last year’s setter, Ashley Kreiner, has graduated after a record-setting career.

            A two-year starter at the setter position after playing defense her first two seasons, Kreiner was a first-team All-Region and second-team PSAC-West choice as a junior and finished her career with 3,030 set assists, the second most in school history and 1,454 digs, the third most in school history. Her 1,679 assists in 2004 are a school record, while here 1,342 last season were the seventh most in school history and her 11.47 apg ranked third in the PSAC.

            The leading candidates to replace Kreiner are junior Kristi Fiorillo and sophomore transfer Dani Hughes from Clarion High.

            Fiorillo had 76 assists in limited setting action last year while adding 241 digs while playing as mostly a defensive player.

            Hughes transferred from California where she played in 16 games with 26 assists and 23 digs as a freshman.

            Clarion also has eight incoming freshmen who have a shot at contributing including Libero Katie Aurand, middle hitter Lauren Carter, defensive specialists Jessica Kitlas and Haley White, outside hitter Amanda Stefanov, setters Heather Swedish and Joy Carey and defensive specialist Allison Bollinger from Clarion High.

            GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – Clarion opens its home season at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 against Lock Haven … The Golden Eagles first PSAC-West contest is at 2 p.m. Sept. 16 at IUP … Clarion will once again be hosting the Days Inn Tournament Homecoming Weekend Oct. 6-7 … Burns is one of just five coaches in school history to lead the Golden Eagles to a 20-win season when she led Clarion to a 20-19 mark including 7-3 in the PSAC-West in 1997 … Burns was a four-year starter for Clarion at middle hitter from 1987-90 and played on four 20-win teams. She was a two-time AVCA Atlantic Region selection (’89, ’90) and finished her career with 1,444 kills, 803 blocks, 786 digs and 171 service aces. At the time of her graduation, she ranked first in school history in kills and blocks, second in digs and third in service aces. She still holds the school record for blocks and is second in kills. Her 522 kills as a senior was then a school record, and her 351 blocks as a junior is the all-time mark at Clarion. The Golden Eagles won the PSAC titles in 1988, was second in 1989 and third in 1990 while going a combined 99-52 when Burns was a player.

Sr. Lindsay Banner

Sr. Jenn Sacco