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Pittsburg State Volleyball
2007 Season Outlook

gorilla logo   The Pittsburg State University volleyball team made its third trip to the NCAA Division II National Tournament in four seasons during the 2006 campaign.
   After battling through a rebuilding season in 2005, the Gorillas returned to the upper echelon of the MIAA and the NCAA-II South Central Region last year.
    Pitt State compiled its 22-12 overall record with a young squad whose top point scorers were a redshirt freshman, several sophomores and a junior.
Now, the Gorillas return all six starters from their 2006 squad and head coach Ibraheem Suberu’s team appears ready to make another viable bid for an MIAA title and a return trip to the NCAA-II postseason.
    Suberu welcomes back five All-MIAA performers from last year’s team, including sophomore outside hitter Pamela Cartagena. Cartagena garnered first-team All-MIAA and second-team All-Region honors as a redshirt freshman in 2006, after leading the league in kills (559) and kills per game (4.23) in 2006.
Junior rightside attacker Sammie Williams also returns for the Gorillas. Williams, a two-time All-MIAA performer, led the MIAA in kills and kills per game as a freshman in 2005, and she averaged 3.74 kills per game as a sophomore in 2006.
    Senior OH/RS Laura Toman (2.95 kpg; 3.28 ppg), junior OH/RS Klaudia Grelowska (2.64 kpg; 3.30 ppg) and junior MB Linda Igbinigie (1.93 kpg; 2.81 ppg) all return with starting experience. Toman and Grelowska each garnered honorable mention All-MIAA honors for the Gorillas last fall.
    Junior Lindsay Quall and sophomores Andrea Gordon, Molly Redmond and Mae Eisenbarth also return with quality experience under the belts.
While the Gorillas return all their top offensive players, the Pitt State defense will be without its top defensive playmaker in Lindsay Shineman, who exhausted her eligibility in 2006.
    Junior Ashlee Maple, who tallied 371 digs (3.57 dpg) will look to help shore up the team’s passing and backcourt responsibilities.
In the setter position, a pair of veteran players return in senior Sarah Brannock and sophomore Emily Vosseler.
    Brannock earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors in her first season as PSU’s primary starter in 2006. She twice earned MIAA Specialist of the Week honors and established a new PSU single season record with 1,622 assists, while helping the Gorillas offense register a school record 2,099 kills.
    Vosseler tallied 142 assists (3.74 apg) in limited action as a redshirt freshman for the Gorillas.
    In addition to the Gorillas mainstays, Suberu welcomes five freshmen to the 2007 Pitt state squad.
    The class features local standouts Cassie Wilson of Pittsburg High School and Megan Adams of Girard High School, along with Emily Duschen (Notre Dame de Sion, Kansas City, Mo.), Meagan Montis (Wellsville) and Angelica Lott (Belton, Mo.).
    ““Our returning team members have one to two years of MIAA and NCAA postseason experience behind us and our new team members come from successful programs,” Suberu said.
    ““We are eager to blend all the experience together within the short preseason training period so that we can start the season on a very good note, and, of course, put ourselves in the position to compete for the top position in the MIAA and the NCAA-II South Region. We are in a position where if we take care of everything that is under our control, along with everything else outside our control cooperating with us, we should achieve all of the goals we’ve collectively agreed upon since the end of the 2006 season.”
    Once again, Suberu has relied on his formula of playing a regionally and nationally challenging schedule to improve his squad’s strength of schedule toward postseason time.
    Pitt State’s 33-match regular season schedule includes 14 matches against 2006 NCAA-II Tournament qualifiers, including six squads who were ranked in the final 2006 AVCA/Division II Top 25 poll.
    The Gorillas open the season at the West Texas A&M University Classic in late August and will face the host WTAMU Lady Bluffs, an NCAA-II semifinalist a year ago.
    In the season’s second week, the Gorilas will compete in the Florida Southern College Invitational where they will take the court against four squads which qualified for the 2006 NCAA-II postseason field. In addition to facing No. 5 Florida Southern, PSU will meet 2008 incoming MIAA member Nebraska-Omaha, the No. 18 team in the 2007 preseason poll.
    For a second year, the MIAA will consist of an East and West Division, with Pitt State, Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Missouri Southern comprising the West Division. Central Missouri, Missouri Western, Northwest Missouri, Southwest Baptist and Truman will comprise the East Division.

Position by Position Breakdown

SETTER
    Pitt State returns a pair of veteran setters in senior Sarah Brannock and sophomore Emily Vosseler.
    Brannock (5-7), from Ash Grove, Mo., earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors as a junior in 2006. She ranked second in the MIAA in assists, averaging 12.57 per game.
    Vosseler, a Leavenworth, Kan., native, competed in 21 matches, averaging 3.74 assists per game for PSU.
    ““Both Sarah and Emily are coming off a successful spring training camp in which we saw significant improvement in their ball placement and decision making,”” Suberu said. ““They both understand each returning attacker’s tendencies much better and are ready to lead this year’s team to a better finish in the MIAA.””

LEFT & RIGHTSIDE ATTACKERS
    The Gorillas return a wealth of talent –– led by four All-MIAA performers to its cast of left and rightside attackers.
Senior OH/RS Laura Toman leads the veteran cast. Toman (6-1), a native of Wichita, Kan., returns for her fourth season in the PSU program. She earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors as a junior in 2006, averaging 2.95 kills per game. Toman, a two-time All-MIAA performer (2005-06) has logged 906 career kills and ranks seventh on the PSU top 10 list in the category.
    Junior Sammie Williams also returns for her third year in the PSU program. The Blue Springs, Mo., native has twice earned second-team All-MIAA honors. Williams led the MIAA in kills as a freshman in 2005, garnering MIAA Freshman of the Year honors along the way. She tallied 437 kills (3.74 kpg) and averaged 4.34 points per game during an equally successful sophomore season.
    Sophomore Pamela Cartagena begins her third season in the PSU program as well. The native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, earned first-team All-MIAA honors as a redshirt freshman in 2006. Cartagena (5-7) led the MIAA in kills (559, 4.23 kpg), ranked second in the league in points (4.73 ppg) and she also averaged 4.53 digs per game to help anchor the Gorillas’ defensive efforts.
    Junior Klaudia Grelowska (6-1) rounds out Pitt State’s All-MIAA cast. The native of Belchatow, Poland, earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors during a sophomore campaign that saw her average 2.64 kills per game.
Sophomores Andrea Gordon and Molly Redmond also will provide depth for the Gorillas attackers. Gordon (5-11) competed in 15 games during her freshman season, averaging 1.40 kills per game, while Redmond (5-7) took the court in 50 games and averaged 1.48 digs per outing.

MIDDLE ATTACKERS
    A pair of juniors –– Linda Igbinigie and Lindsay Quall –– return for their third seasons in the Pitt State program and both players figure to play a key role in the Gorillas success in the middle.
    Igbinigie (6-4) has evolved into one of the top middle blockers in the MIAA the past two seasons. The Richardson, Texas, native ranked third in the MIAA in hitting percentage (.343) and fourth in the league in blocks (1.19 bpg) as a sophomore in 2006.
    Quall (5-10), a native of Topeka, Kan., has averaged 1.25 kills and 0.78 block per game in her first two seasons in the PSU program.
    Sophomore Mae Eisenbarth (6-0) also enters her second season with the Gorillas. The McCall, Id., native saw limited action as a freshman in 2006 while battling injuries but figures to see more significant action in 2007.
    Four freshmen also will look to make an impact for the Gorillas this fall. Emily Duschen (5-11) comes to PSU from Notre Dame de Sion High School in Kansas City, Mo., where she was an All-Region performer in the prep ranks and also captured a state title in the high jump in track & field.
Megan Adams (5-10), from Girard High School, recorded 369 kills, 190 digs and 91.5 blocks for the Trojans a year ago.
    Meagan Montis (5-11) was a three-time All-League selection at Wellsville High School. She helped the Lady Eagles to a 38-5 record and the Kansas Class 3A state runner-up finish in 2006.
    Angelica Lott (6-0) also joins the Gorillas from Belton (Mo.) High School. She registered 138 kills and set a school record with a .414 attack percentage her senior season.

DEFENSIVE SPECIALISTS / LIBEROS
    Junior Ashlee Maple figures to see significant action as a defensive specialist for the Gorillas. The Topeka, Kan., native finished the 2006 season with 371 digs (3.57 dpg), finishing second only to Cartagena among PSU’s returners.
    Freshman Cassie Wilson (5-10), from Pittsburg High School, also will look to impact PSU’s defensive efforts. Wilson was a two-time first-team All-SEK League performer at PHS.