Full Match Notes
The Fort Hays State volleyball team will open the 2011 season this Friday and Saturday (Sept. 2-3) in Sioux Falls, S.D. at the Active Ankle Invite hosted by the University of Sioux Falls. At the tournament, FHSU will face four schools that are transitioning from the NAIA to NCAA Division II.
On Friday, the Tigers take on the host Sioux Falls and Black Hills State then Saturday they will play South Dakota School of Mines and Minot State. It will be the first time in school history that FHSU will play Sioux Falls and Minot State.
Kurt Kohler is entering his third season as the head coach of the Tigers and looks to improve off of last season's 7-25 record. To do so, he will be relying on his one senior, a handful of sophomores and plenty of newcomers. Tracie Hileman is the lone senior for FHSU and she led the team with 332 kills a season ago. Hileman was also named to the all-tournament team at the I.C Bhakta Invitational and the most valuable player of the Texas-Permian Basin last season. This season, Hileman is moving back to the libero position where she played as a sophomore in 2009.
A strong sophomore class led by All-MIAA honorable mention selection Madison Schwartz will also be called upon to lead the Tigers this season. Schwartz enjoyed a solid freshman campaign, making 24 starts as an outside hitter and ranking third on the team with 220 kills, 43 assists and 13 service aces. Middle hitter Jenna Ulrich, outside hitter Camille Hubert and defensive specialist Makenzie Weinman are also expected to be contributers for the Tigers in 2011. Ulrich finished the 2010 season strong, starting the final four matches of the year and putting down a season-high in kills in two of them. Hubert is fully healed from a knee injury suffered in high school and she is in contention for one of the starting spots on the outside. Weinman played in spot duty as a freshman and this season is competing for time at one of the defensive positions.
The Tigers have to replace setter Whitney Liggett, who graduated with her name in several all-time categories. The favorite to start this weekend is junior transfer Kayla Zoglman. Zoglman comes to Fort Hays State after two years as the setter at Butler (Kan.) Community College where she was a second team all-district selection. She also ranks second all-time in assists at Butler. Zoglman is joined at FHSU by former Grizzly teammate Megan Glandon, who put down over 350 kills in her two years at Butler as a rightside hitter.
Several freshmen will be called upon to contribute this season. Kohler has mentioned middle hitter Kylee Hoagland and outside hitter Sara Hewson as two that could provide an immediate impact for the Tigers. Both players came to Hays from Colorado and were named to the Colorado High School Coaches Association Class 4A All-State team in 2010.
