KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – After weeks of drills and practice inside the Indiana State Arena, the Sycamore volleyball team will kick off the 2013 season this weekend when they compete in the SIUE Cougar Classic in Edwardsville, Ill.
Indiana State will go up against the host SIUE Cougars at 7:30 p.m. (ET) Friday and conclude play in the three-team tournament at 12 noon (ET) Saturday by meeting the Akron Zips. It will be a short turnaround for the Sycamores as they will be back on the road next Tuesday to play a 6 p.m. (ET) game at Chicago State.
“The entire coaching staff is looking forward to watching the team in action Friday against SIUE,” Traci Dahl, Indiana State volleyball coach, said. “We are more athletic than ever and the team has been working real hard in practice fine tuning each portion of their game. It will be nice to finally see everything we have been working on come together on Friday.”
The 2013 edition of the Sycamores are hoping to return to the level of success earned by the 2011 team after an injury plagued 2012 kept Indiana State from making their second straight trip to the MVC Tournament.
Dahl is entering her sixth season as the Sycamore head coach and has been instrumental in the development of a competitive team in one of the toughest volleyball leagues in the nation. One bright spot from the 2012 season was that several freshman gained valuable court time and experience which should provide dividends this year. In addition, the Sycamores will regain the services of senior Morgan Dall, one of the top hitters in the Missouri Valley Conference, who missed the 2012 season due to an injury.
Only six players who saw action in 2012 return for the 2013 season including four returning starters: senior setter Loni Mackinson, senior outside hitter Molly Murphy, junior middle blocker Kyla Thomas, and sophomore middle blocker Cassandra Willis. Also seeing plenty of time on the court a year ago was sophomore Erika Nord, who split setter duties with Mackinson, and sophomore outside hitter Victoria Swigart. Dall was a starter at outside hitter in her first three seasons and will be back in the starting lineup this year.
Added to the mix is a talented group of five newcomers. Sophomore defensive specialist Taylor Reckards is joined by freshmen middle blocker Melody Burdette, freshman outside hitter Bree Spangler, freshman outside hitter Kynedi Nalls, and freshman defensive specialist Shannon Murphy in donning the Blue & White for the first time this season.
THE SCHEDULE
The Sycamores will play in three tournaments before the start of the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference season with stops in Edwardsville, Ill., Buies Creek, N.C., and Dayton, Ohio. A pair of mid-week non-conference counters will be played between the tournaments.
Indiana State opens the regular season at the SIUE Cougar Classic where they will take on the host SIUE Cougars (Aug. 30) and the Akron Zips (Aug. 31). The Sycamores have lost the last two meetings with SIUE after winning the first four and are 0-3 against Akron. On the flip side, the Sycamores have won their last three season openers including a 3-1 win over Butler at the Loyola Tournament a year ago.
The Sycamores will stay on the road to play a mid-week non-conference game at Chicago State (Sept. 3). Indiana State has never lost to the Cougars in 15 meetings.
The road show continues at the Hampton Inn of Holly Springs Invitational hosted by Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. The Sycamores will take on the Georgetown Hoyas (Sept. 6) and the host Campbell Camels (Sept. 6) before wrapping up action against the North Carolina Central Eagles (Sept. 7). It will be the first meeting against each of the opponents for Indiana State.
Another mid-week non-conference contest will open the 2013 home season for Indiana State as the Sycamores host the IUPUI Jaguars in the ISU Arena (Sept. 10). Indiana State holds a 16-5 record and 6-2 mark inside the Arena against the Jaguars but have dropped the last two games. However, the Sycamores did beat IUPUI 3-1 the last time the two teams played in Indiana State's home opener in 2010.
The Wright State Invitational Presented By Holiday Inn is the final non-conference tournament for the Sycamores with Indiana State taking on the Murray State Racers (Sept. 13), the Robert Morris Panthers (Sept. 14), and the Wright State Raiders (Sept. 14). It will be the first meeting with Murray State while Indiana State is 1-1 against Robert Morris and 4-9 against Wright State.
The Missouri Valley Conference campaign opens on Sept. 20 when Indiana State hosts Southern Illinois followed by Evansville on Sept. 21. The Sycamores will also host Missouri State (Oct. 11), Wichita State (Oct. 12), Illinois State (Oct. 25), Loyola (Nov. 1), Bradley (Nov. 2), Northern Iowa (Nov. 15) and Drake (Nov. 16).
Conference action on the road includes stops at Illinois State (Sept. 27), Bradley (Oct. 4), Loyola (Oct. 5), Drake (Oct. 18), Northern Iowa (Oct. 19), Wichita State (Nov. 8), Missouri State (Nov. 9), Evansville (Nov. 22) and Southern Illinois (Nov. 23).
Mixed in will be two more non-conference home games as the Sycamores host Chicago State (Sept. 24), and St. Louis University (Oct. 22). The Sycamores are 9-8 against the Billikens.
RETURNING PLAYERS
Three seniors will be leading the Sycamores into the 2013 season and all hail from Illinois including 5'-11” outside hitter Morgan Dall (Aviston, Ill.), 5'-10” setter Loni Mackinson (Pontiac, Ill.), and 6'-1” outside hitter Molly Murphy (Chicago, Ill.).
Dall missed the 2012 season due to an injury but was consistently ranked among the nation's best hitters when she was on the court. The senior has 927 career kills and should become just the 11th Sycamore to record 1,000 career kills at some point this season. She enters her final campaign ranked 12th in career kills (927), second in career kills per set (3.50), 12th in career attack attempts (2,669), 18th in career points (1,022.5), and third in career points per set (3.86).
During an injury shortened 2011 season, Dall still averaged 4.46 kills per set and 4.99 points per set which were single season highs. She also averaged 4.00 kills per set and 4.33 points per set in the 10 Valley games she played.
Mackinson is expected to be the primary setter for the 2013 season after splitting time on the court for the past two seasons. She recorded 741 assists a year ago for a 7.97 per set average, both career highs, while also posting 212 digs and 11 blocks. She recorded a career high 70 assists against Evansville in 2012 which tied her for fourth on the all-time single game list.
Murphy has been a versatile player for the Sycamores as she can battle at the net or patrol the back on defense. She recorded career highs of 24 kills and 64 attempts against Evansville last season as she finished the 2012 campaign with 219 kills (2.03 kills per set), 240 digs (2.22 digs per set), and 22 service aces.
She enters her final season with 340 career kills, 40 service aces, 353 digs, and 21 blocks.
Kyla Thomas is the only other junior on the team and was a starter on the 2012 squad when she recorded 115 kills, 34 digs and 58 blocks. She posted a career high.538 attack percentage against Eastern Illinois, 13 kills against Bradley, and seven blocks against Missouri State.
A trio of sophomores gained valuable experience a year ago in their first season as a Sycamore and round out the returning veterans.
Cassandra Willis started all 28 games a year ago in the middle blocker position as she recorded 182 kills with a .264 hitting percentage and 63 blocks.
Erica Nord split time at the setter position and recorded 319 assists (3.89 assists per set) with 137 digs and 17 service aces.
Victoria Swigart played in 21 games as an outside hitter for Indiana State with 100 kills (1.67 kills per set), eight service aces, 66 digs, and four blocks.
THE NEWCOMERS
Five newcomers will don the blue and white for the first time this season. Taylor Reckards is the lone sophomore among the newcomers and she is joined by freshman Melody Burdette, Shannon Murphy, Kynedi Nalls, and Bree Spangler.
Reckards is a 5'-6” defensive specialist (Wheaton, Ill.) who was a member of the 2011 AAU National Champion team while playing club for Sports Performance. She was instrumental in St. Francis High School winning back-to-back regional titles and a state tournament run as a senior that ended with St. Francis placing third.
Burdette is a 6'-1” middle blocker (Downey, Calif.) who earned awards for most blocks and as he best defensive player for Downey High School.
Murphy is a 5'-6” defensive specialist (Chicago, Ill.) who joins her sister (Molly) on the Sycamore team. It is just the second time in school history that sisters have been on the team at the same time (Christina and Jennifer Marx were teammates in 1999 and 2000). Murphy was named most improved on the Marist High School team.
Nalls is a 6'-0” middle blocker (Fort Worth, Tex.) who set several school records at Saginaw High School including kills in a game (20), season hitting percentage (.291), career kills per game (2.77), career hitting percentage (.260), and career blocks per game (0.83). She was second in career kills (671) and second in blocks (240).
Spangler is a 6'-1” outside hitter (Coldwater, Mich.) who was twice named Second Team All-State while playing for Coldwater High School. She finished her high school career second in all-time serving percentage, fourth in kills and second in digs.
