2005 Season Preview/Recap
Coming off its fifth straight 20+ win season in 2004,
the Centre College volleyball team has been picked
to place fifth in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), as voted by the league's 10 coaches. The Colonels received 57 total points.
Trinity University was chosen to win its eighth consecutive championship and 12th total championship in the 15 years the SCAC has been
in existence. The Tigers received all 10 first place votes for a total of 100 points.
Southwestern University was picked to finish second with 85 points, followed by DePauw University with 78 points and Rhodes College with 76 total points.
Millsaps College was selected sixth with 48 points. The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology came in seventh with 40 points. Hendrix College received 35 points to place eigth and the University of the South - Sewanee and Oglethorpe University round out the 10 schools at ninth and tenth with 17 and 14 points respectively.
The Colonels are one of three SCAC programs entering the 2005 season with a new head coach. James Neyhouse takes over for the departed Stephanie Dragan, who left to become the head coach at Western Carolina University. Neyhouse had been the head coach at his alma mater Wilmington College since 2001.
 Centre will be relatively young in 2005. The team will not have any seniors and only four juniors and one sophomore return with any experience.
Three starters have graduated from last year's
28-12 squad, including the SCAC's career assist leader Leah Ballinger.
The Colonels do, however, return three starters including honorable mention All-American and SCAC Freshman-of-the-Year Sarah Burger (Goshen, Ky.).
Burger, who was also named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) South Region Freshman-of-the-Year last year, was second in the SCAC in hitting percentage (.370) and third in kills with 4.08 per game.
Junior Megan McElveen (Cold Spring, Ky.) returns
after finishing third in the  league and first on the
team in digs per game last year with 5.11. Another junior, Kate Bennett (Louisville, Ky.), is the third returning starter. Bennett was 19th in the SCAC in kills per game (2.63) and sixth in service aces
(0.44 per game) as a sophomore.
Also returning for the Colonels are juniors Ellie
Exner (Durham, N.C.) and Christelle Ford (Robstown, TX). Both were letterwinners a year
ago and are looking for increased roles in 2005. Joining them will be four freshmen and one
sophomore to complete this year's team.
Centre opens its 2005 campaign Friday and Saturday, Sept 2-3, when they travel to Columbus, Ohio to particpate in the Capital University Tournament. The Colonels are scheduled to play Heidelberg College at 7:00 pm and Clarion University at 9:00 pm Friday night.
|
