Volleyball looking to make noise
By Jared Bell
IV Leader Sports Editor
With only three returning players from last year’s squad, a new coach and a roster that was every changing in preseason, it would be safe to say the 2005 IVCC volleyball squad is in a transition year.
“There has been a lot of transition here,” first-year IVCC coach Nicci Gibson said, “but the girls that have been here have been working really, really hard. The girls that have been here since day one have been very dedicated. They have adapted to me as the new coach very, very well.”
When the team took the floor for its first practice on August 1, only eight players were on the team, including three returning sophomores. At one point, the roster went down to seven players, but since then, it has filled out with 12 players on the squad.
Gibson was named the head coach at IVCC only two weeks before the start of the season started and was unable to do any recruiting, but that doesn’t mean she thinks she lacks talent.
Up front, 5-10 sophomore Liz Cannon will see time as a middle hitter. The LaSalle-Peru graduate has impressed Gibson not only with her skills on the court, but also the leadership she has provided.
“She is and has been since day one a leader on the court,” Gibson said. “She motivates the other girls; she is a team leader; she is great with me as far as she is very coachable. I definitely think she is going to be one of our main (players).”
Another returnee is sophomore Kelly Abrahams. The 5-6 Hall graduate is expected to see most of her time as the libero. She will wear a different jersey than her teammates as a libero and she can not attempt a kill at anytime. As a libero, Abrahams can come into the game at any time and will not count as a substitution. She can come in and out of the game as much as she wants.
“She is basically my defensive specialist,” Gibson said. “She is the one who will go in the back row and all she will do is pass, pass, pass, dig, dig, dig, dig. She can not hit. She is basically a passer and a digger. That’s all she does is play defense.”
In her first year at IVCC, sophomore Vanessa Funfsinn will handle the setting duties. Funfsinn, the 2003 NewsTribune Co-Player of the Year, will reunite with Abrahams as both were members of the 2003 sectional championship team at Hall. Funfsinn had over 600 assists in her senior season at Hall.
“At setter, she is kind of like the quarterback on a football team and I think she needs that leadership role,” Gibson said. “I think she has done a great job.”
Joining Cannon up front is 5-10 second-year sophomore Jessica Handzo and freshman 5-8 freshman Ashley Bogacz. Handzo, who had XXXKNEEXXX surgery last year, will return as a hitter and Gibson said that Bogacz is making the transition from middle hitter, which was where she played in high school, to outside hitter very well.
Joining the threesome up front is freshman Becky Martin, Catie Weber and Kayla Kudrick.
“I think we’re pretty well rounded,” Gibson said of her hitters. “We have the outside covered and we have the middle covered and my middles can run slides and quicks. I don’t know how strong were going to be, but I think were going to be solid.”
In the back row with Abrahams, 5-6 defensive specialist Trisha Kamphuis will also start. Other players who could see time there is sophomores and freshmen Ashley Small, Jessica Mann, and Alli Hougas.
A Slow start
The Eagles have struggled out of the gate this season. They dropped their first six games after a tough five-set defeat to Highland, who defeated IVCC in three sets at the season-opening DuPage Tournament.
At the DuPage Tournament, they dropped four close games and followed that up with a loss at Moraine Valley.