Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Volleyball resets, brings in six players

Monday, August 13, 2018
Junior Mikayla Khulmann serves during exhibition match against Missouri Baptist.
By Josh Dodge ~ Photo Editor

The Southeast volleyball team is looking for a fresh start this upcoming season, with six new players and a new assistant coach.

“Coming into conference play, it will be a clean slate,” said senior rightside hitter Haley Bilbruck, a member of last year’s team that finished 11-20 overall and 6-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference. “Everybody graduated a lot of good players last year, so I think the [OVC] is wide open. I’m just looking forward to conference play and kind of seeing how it plays out.”

Southeast has added plenty of depth, with freshman outside hitter Kendall Washington, sophomore transfer outside hitter Laney Malloy, freshman rightside hitter Caroline Draver, freshman rightside hitter Colby Greene, freshman middle blocker Elissa Moylan and freshman setter Claire Ochs.

“We’re going to be very deep with our pin hitters, which is great,” head coach Julie Yankus said. “The OVC champion usually has some really good pin hitters, so we got a lot of quality pin hitters that are going to be duking it out for playing time. That is going to make us really challenging.”

A ‘pin hitter,’ as Yankus put it, is a player that plays on the outsides, not in the middle. These players normally hit the ball out wide, or to the ‘pin’, which is a term for the antennae attached to the net.

With the addition of so many newcomers, one thing the team keyed in on during the summer was establishing leaders and building teamwork.

“One of the biggest things we’ve worked on from last spring to summer is establishing leaders and determining who those leaders are going to be on the team by giving them opportunities to lead, and to learn and grow,” Yankus said. “[The team] is working together really well. We have a great bunch of women on this team that are welcoming, so getting the new [players] comfortable, I think was really easy.”

The newcomers on the team have been performing much beyond expectations, according to Bilbruck.

“Our whole freshman class, as well as our transfer Laney, have all filled in perfectly and above what I was expecting,” Bilbruck said. “Ever since our first open gym, they came in here and hit the ground running. They want to play just as bad as the upperclassmen do, and so I think having a competitive atmosphere within our gym is going to be great for us come this fall.”

There are certainly big shoes to fill. Southeast graduated six seniors, among those were First Team All-OVC players Krissa Gearring and Nzingha Clarke. The duo combined for nearly 600 kills, with Gearring leading the team with 342. She also led the team in blocks (145) and ranked second in digs (305).

One other move the team made was adding new assistant coach Carly Thomas to the staff. Thomas previously spent a year on the staff at Missouri State University, where she also was a standout player for four years. With the Redhawks, she will coach the setters and be responsible for travel, film exchange, home match management and academic development.

“We were really lucky to get Carly when we did,” Yankus said. “ She is such a decorated setter herself, she was an All-American at Missouri State. Her ability as a player and as a coach is really going to help our setters and help our offense and help the team overall. We’re excited to have her. She has not been scared to speak up and find her voice immediately.”

The Redhawks maintained a 3.3 cumulative Grade Point Average during the 2017-2018 academic year, earning the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Team Academic Award for the 11th straight year.

Some other familiar faces that are returning would include sophomore defensive specialist Ally Dion, who led the team in digs (339) as a freshman. Senior setter Keegan Fornhoff will also be returning to the team, coming back from a season where she ranked second on the team in assists with 530.

Bilbruck feels that, with the additions to the team, they can make it to the OVC championship this year, and win it.

“We have what it takes. Speeding up our game will help us a lot and better communication will help us a lot,” Bilbruck said.

Yankus is confident that this season will be an improvement from the last.

“In my mind, a 20 win season is always a successful volleyball season, for the most part,” Yankus said. “Our goal is always to be at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference. We’re going to focus a lot on what it’s gonna take to get there and the journey to get to that outcome, because it’s all about the process. I think [20 wins] is definitely something we can reach this year.”

The Southeast volleyball team will host Missouri Baptist in an exhibition match 5 p.m. Aug. 13. The team will also hold its Redhawks Scrimmage at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 before opening the regular season Aug. 24 in the Troy University Tournament in Troy, Alabama.

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