August 31, 2010
The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team has had its share of success the past two seasons under the direction of head coach Trent Jones.
Coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in over a decade, it looks to be another promising campaign for the Tritons on the court in 2010.
Jones, who owns a 44-19 record at the helm in two seasons, welcomes back 10 letterwinners, including five starters and his libero. Among that group are four standouts who earned all-conference honors a year ago, including seniors Liz Cook and Carolyn Holstein.
Cook is a two-time second team all-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection and currently ranks fifth in program history with 1,018 career kills, needing 384 to take over the top spot.
Cook, who also ranks in the top-10 in career kill attempts and service aces, led the Tritons with 2.79 kills per set last season from her outside hitter position, while also averaging 2.17 digs per set.
Holstein is also a second team all-GLVC honoree, earning the accolades for the first time in her career last season. As a junior, the libero set an UMSL single season record with 595 digs, an average of 5.00 per set. That figure also ranked Holstein first in the GLVC and 27th in NCAA Division II.
Holstein currently ranks seventh all-time in UMSL history with 1,148 career digs, needing 527 digs to move into first.
Other returning seniors include setter Kayla Kinzinger and outside hitters Lauren Hubbard and Bre Pratl.
Kinzinger started all 32 matches last season, averaging 9.99 assists and 1.62 digs per set. She also enters the season ranked 10th in program history in careers assists (1,456).
Hubbard saw action in 27 matches last season, recording 136 kills, while Pratl appeared in 20 matches.
Headlining the junior class is middle hitter Weslie Gaff and outside/opposite side hitter Erin Higgins.
Gaff is a two-time first team all-GLVC honoree, while Higgins also picked up first team all-GLVC accolades last year.
Gaff also earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) honorable mention all-Midwest Region honors and was selected to the Daktronics, Inc. Midwest Region First Team as a sophomore.
She led the team 1.07 blocks per set and hit at a team-best .332 clip, while ranking third in kills with 2.41 per set. Gaff enters the season ranking third all-time in career hitting percentage (.313) and is tied for seventh with 68 career solo blocks.
Higgins was second on the team in kills as a sophomore, averaging 2.59 per set and was second with a .246 hitting percentage. She also averaged a team third-best 0.59 blocks per set.
Also returning from the junior class is opposite side hitter Shelby Crawford and outside hitter Kelsie Rankin.
Crawford averaged 1.15 kills and 1.10 digs per set, while hitting at a .211 clip, playing in 32 matches, while Rankin started 23 of 32 matches played in, averaging 2.32 digs and 1.57 kills per set.
The 2010 roster features just one sophomore – opposite/outside hitter Liz Jaeger. Jaeger saw action in just 17 matches as a freshman, but is expected to be a strong candidate for more playing time this year.
The Tritons also welcome five new faces, including freshman redshirt middle hitter Corinne Hoekstra. Freshmen Tabatha Albers (middle hitter), Chelsea Burkle (middle/outside hitter), Erin Klostermann (defensive specialist/setter) and Anna McNulty (setter) all begin their first season with the Tritons.
Hoekstra sat out last season with an injury, but will be looked at in the middle this season.
Albers was a four-year letterwinner at Mater Dei Catholic High School (Ill.), helping her squad to a state runner-up finish as a senior and a third place finish as a junior.
Burkle earned Iowa Girls Coaching Association Class 4A special mention all-state honors as a senior at Linn-Mar High School after averaging 4.36 kills per game.
Klostermann was a three-year letterwinner at Dubuque Wahlert High School, one of Iowa’s most storied programs, where she earned first team Iowa Class 3A all-state honors as a senior after recording 785 assists, 275 digs, 90 kills and 50 service aces.
McNulty was a four-year letterwinner at Des Moines Roosevelt High School, earning Iowa Class 4A all-state special mention honors as a senior after recording 786 assists and 45 service aces. The three-time first team all-conference honoree graduated as her school’s all-time career assists leader, totaling 2,258 career assists.
The Tritons begin the season September 3-4 at the University of West Florida Comfort Inn-vitational. The always competitive GLVC season gets underway on September 17 when UMSL hosts Quincy.
UMSL will open its home schedule with its own Tritons Classic, September 10-11 and begins GLVC play at home on Friday, Sept. 17 against Quincy.
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