Just got done writing my Friends volleyball story advancing tomorrow’s (Saturday) NAIA national playoff game at No. 14 Bellevue (Neb.) — kind of a cool side note to the whole goings-on is that the mothers of current Falcons Courtney McCune and Jessica Mullen played on the last Friends team to play at nationals … in 1984! Also came away impressed with how Friends coach Martin Ayin has built his team — mainly with local talent. Here’s the key when you recruit locally — you still need to get good local players to fill your roster. Ayin did that.
TA
Ps. You’re a Killers fan? Wow, me too! LOL — enjoy
This was a tight race — but Pittsburg State’s Pamela Cartagena beat out Emporia State’s Ting Liu and Arica Shepard for MIAA volleyball player of the year honors, unseating Liu, last year’s player of the year, then ending the Hornets’ season on Thursday at Warrensburg, Mo., in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional. Cartagena, a 5-foot-7 outside hitter (!) will end her career as a four-time first-team all-MIAA pick.
And, just to illustrate how competitive the league was this year, Liu wasn’t even a first-team pick this season at setter. That went to Washburn’s Kate Hampson as Liu was relegated to the second team. Shepard, ESU’s Brittney Miller and Washburn’s Mollie Lacy were also first-teamers.
NEWS FLASH:BLOGGING WHILE ON VACATION — ONLY IF YOU’RE JOANNA CHADWICK. IT’S JUST NOT FOR THE EASILY DISTRACTED. LIKE YOURS TRULY.
With that out of the way, it’s really good to be back.
I was on vacation out West and missed a lot while I was away (Butler lost, L. Page blew up, Arica Shepard is still really good) so please consider this an abbreviated version of what will be next week’s first full edition of ROLL CALL. For the newbies, RC is basically a rundown of the MIAA, KCAC and Jayhawk standouts from the previous week’s games, and usually runs on Monday or Tuesday. But since I’m popping in the office for the first time this week on a Thursday, let’s try something different.
Oh, and as far as the man in the pic up top … he’s headed to the ESU Hall of Fame. And nobody deserves it more. Congratulations to Mr. Shay. He’s in my top 10 — any level. Dude was fun to watch. BTW that trophy in front of him is the Harlon Hill.
Q: What do the MIAA and Jayhawk Conference volleyball teams have in common?
A: They’ve both got a bunch of teams in preseason Top 25 polls, with the MIAA checking in with five (none lower than 17, BTW) and the Jayhawk with five.
ARICA SHEPARD
No doubt, the story within the state of Kansas, volleyball-wise, has got to be Emporia State, the No. 3 team in the preseason NCAA Division II poll. The Hornets have their best two players — and a pair of All-Americans — back in setter Ting Liu and outside hitter Arica Shepard as well as the fact that … Bing Xu can really coach. What I’m interested in is to see how ESU handles all of the expectations. Remember, a year ago, they’d never even won an MIAA title.
That being said, the MIAA is no given. Not even close. You think Truman (No. 9), Washburn (No. 11), Central Missouri (No. 12) and Pittsburg State (No. 17) are going to just roll over? Hardly.
DEBBIE OHL (PHOTO: HUTCH CC SPORTS)
CORRECTION — HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THIS? JOHNSON COUNTY IS RANKED NO. 3 IN DII, WHICH IS DEFINITELY HIGHER THAN NO. 4. HEY, NOBODY’S PERFECT.
As far as the Jayhawk — they’ve got four teams ranked, with two in the NJCAA DI poll and two in the NJCAA DII poll, the highest of the four being Johnson County at No. 3 in DII, followed by Cowley at No. 4.
Hutchinson is ranked No. 13 in DI, with first-team All-Jayhawk middle blocker Debbie Ohl back. Ohl, a 5-foot-11 Hutch Trinity H.S. product, put up 175 blocks last season. That’s pretty good. Pratt was No. 18 in the DI poll, led by last year’s Jayhawk West freshman of the year, outside hitter Katerin Trejos. Cowley lost its coach, Joanna Pryor, to NCAA Division II Newman, but they grabbed Pitt State assistant Jennifer Bahner to replace her. And they’ve got all-league setter Sarah Eldridge back, so they don’t need a new quarterback. Butler’s at No. 12 in the DII poll.
Preseason MIAA volleyball rankings are out — and no surprise as defending champion Emporia State and Washburn were picked to finish 1-2. Each team got five first-place votes. Last year, Emporia State had the greatest season in school history, winning its first MIAA title and advancing to the NCAA regional final. Not bad. In fact, pretty spectacular. And they’ve got the MIAA player of the year back in All-American setter Ting Liu along with All-American outside hitter Arica Shepard.
On another note, I gotta say … I was kind of excited for this year’s MIAA volleyball season. That was, until earlier this week.
Not naming names here, but there’s been an edict handed down from one of the schools NOT to write about a certain topic involving one of its’ players. I don’t want to say who, or what the topic — but it is not something I’ve ever had an interest in writing about, honestly, although I know I’ve mentioned it in a few articles and on the blog, but apparently, last year, a couple of places beat the story to death. Fast forward to this year and the school’s SID — via an ultimatum from the player — is telling us media types to back up. This … is absolutely ridiculous. If the kid didn’t want to talk about it, then she could have simply said so if/when it is brought up in an interview. On something as MUNDANE as what this ban was about, I’m sure any self-respecting reporter would have shrugged their shoulders, said OK, then moved on to the next question. Instead, said school flexes its’ muscles and said player looks like a prima donna. Nobody likes to get big-timed, which is what this feels like.
