KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State Sycamores have been hard at work for the past week as they prepare for the 2012 volleyball season which will unofficially begin this Saturday when the Sycamores take on a team of Indiana State Alumni in the annual scrimmage. That preview of the 2012 Sycamore team will take place at 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday in the ISU Arena.
Eight former Sycamores will return to battle the current squad including three from the 2011 team which reached the Missouri Valley Conference post-season tournament for the first time in seven year including one of the top hitters in Indiana State history (Stacy Qualizza), one of the top setters (Shelbi Fouty), and one of the top libero’s (Kiya James).
They will be joined by former Sycamores Stephanie Meier (Millington) who played from 2005-2009, Stephanie Roof who was a Sycamore from 2003-2007, Stephanie Volden (Pieper) who played from 2006-2010, Kristy Cox who was a Sycamore from 2005-2009, and Ana Marie Charun who played from 2009-2010 and is now the graduate manager for the Indiana State volleyball team.
The alumni team will be coached by current Indiana State undergraduate student assistant coach Nick Polite. Paul and Elaine Thomas will be the honorary coaches.
A “Meet and Greet” for the 2012 team and returning alumni will be held immediately after the scrimmage at the Ballyhoo.
Charun played two years at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, before transferring to Indiana State. In two seasons as a Sycamore, Charun accumulated 429 kills (2.20 kills per set) in 1,451 attempts with 21 assist, 27 aces, 275 digs, and 27 blocks.
Cox is one of the top defensive specialists (libero) in Indiana State history as she holds the school record for career digs (1,841) and for digs per set (4.55). The former Sycamore ranks in the top 10 of single season records in digs (second with 545 in 2008, fourth with 523 in 2006, and 10th with 428 I 2007) and in digs per set (second with 5.13 in 2006, third with 4.92 in 2007, and sixth with 4.54 in 2008). She surpassed 30 digs in a game four times and recorded a career best 37 digs against Oakland University on Sept. 8, 2006.
Fouty was the primary setter for the Sycamores in her final two years after splitting time in her first two seasons with Whitney Fromm. She finished her career ranked eighth in assists (1,879), 10th in assists per set (4.69), eighth in digs (986), and 16th in digs per set (2.46). She recorded a career high 62 assists against Drake on Oct. 30, 2010.
James proved to be a formidable replacement for Cox at the defensive specialist (libero) position. She finished her career third in digs (1, 706) and second in digs per set (3.88). She ranks in the top 10 of single season records in digs (third with 527 in 2009, fifth with 502 in 2011, and sixth with 496 in 2010) and in digs per set (fourth with 4.74 in 2011, fifth with 4.71 in 2009, and seventh with 4.35 in 2010). James recorded a career high 32 digs against Evansville on Nov. 5, 2010.
Meier (Millington) recorded 452 kills in her four years as a Sycamore with 60 assists, 60 aces, 594 digs, and 49 blocks. She ranks 21st in career attack attempts (1,760).
Qualizza is one of the top hitters to compete for the Sycamores as she ranks among the top in several career categories including kills (14th with 922), kills per set (19th at 2.31), total attacks (18th with 2,137), attack percentage (second at .292), total blocks (13th with 215), block solos (15th with 39), block assists (13th with 176), blocks per set (24th at 0.54), points (16th with 1,051), and points per set (23rd at 2.63). The two-time All-Missouri Valley second team selection set the school record for hitting percentage in a season (.370 in 2011) and also has the seventh best percentage (.289 in 2010). She posted a career high 26 kills against Evansville on Nov. 5, 2010 and recorded the second best single game hitting percentage at .742 against Evansville on Nov. 4, 2011.
Roof recorded 251 kills in her Indiana State career to go along with 11 assists, 24 aces, 56 digs, and 102 blocks.
Volden (Pieper) is one of the top middle blockers to play for Indiana State and ranks eighth in career blocks (280), eighth in block solos (72), ninth in block assists (208), and 11th in blocks per set (0.72). She also had 581 kills (24th on the career list), 1,692 attempts (24th on the all-time list), and 784 points (24th on career list). She had a career high four solo blocks against SIU Edwardsville on Aug. 29, 2006.
Going against these veterans will be the 2012 squad. One of the key performers this year will be senior Morgan Dall who currently ranks 13th in career kills (923), second in career kills per set (3.50), 12th in total attacks (2,659), and third in career points per set (3.86). Dall also ranks in the top 10 of several single season categories including setting school records with 1,441 attack attempts in 2010, 4.46 kills per set in 2011, and 4.99 points per set in 2011. She also ranks fourth in kills (469 in 2010), fifth in kills per set (4.11 in 2010), fourth in points (511.5 in 2010) and fifth in points per set (4.49 in 2010).
Other key members of the 2012 team include senior Shea Doran who was named to the MVC All-Tournament team a year ago, junior Loni Mackinson, senior Christie Fullenkamp, and junior Molly Murphy.
