Nowacki anxious for season to begin

After four years as an assistant, she guides the Redhawks into the Missouri State Invitational this weekend.

Renata Nowacki can't wait to begin making her imprint on Southeast Missouri State volleyball.

She'll get the opportunity this weekend when the Redhawks open the season in the Missouri State Invitational in Springfield, Mo., facing St. Louis University and Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday, and host Missouri State on Sunday.

Nowacki, an assistant under Cindy Gannon the past four seasons, is now the Redhawks' head coach after Gannon assumed a full-time administrative role at the university.

"I'm very excited, and very thankful to be in this position," Nowacki said. "It's been an easy transition for my first [head coaching] job, to have coach Gannon here. She's been so helpful. I'm always in her office, asking questions."

Also helping the Redhawks' transition from Gannon -- who led Southeast to eight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles, the most recent in 2000 -- to Nowacki is the fact she is so familiar with all of her players.

"It's been a lot better transition than I thought," said junior outside hitter Jessica Koeper, a Jackson High School product. "We already knew her as our assistant coach, so that's made it easier."

With an experienced cast of returning players, Nowacki and Koeper both look for the Redhawks to improve on last year's performance, when they went 11-17 overall and tied for fourth place in the OVC at 9-7. Southeast came on strong down the stretch in 2004, winning 10 of its final 14 matches.

"The core of the team is back, and I think we've got some talented new players," Nowacki said. "The OVC will be tough, but I think we're going to compete well and contend [for the title]."

Koeper is the Redhawks' headliner after a sophomore season that saw her hammer home 408 kills to rank fourth in the OVC. She earned second-team all-conference honors, and was named to this year's preseason all-OVC first team.

"I think we're going to do really well, because we have almost everybody back," Koeper said.

Southeast returns six players with starting experience. Also back are senior outside hitter Jill Miller, senior libero Lauren Scannell, junior setter Jamie Baumstark, sophomore outside hitter Brittany Hastings and sophomore middle blocker Brenna Schlader.

Miller was second on the squad last year in kills (310) and digs (387), while Scannell's team-leading 506 digs ranked second in the OVC and represented the second-highest single-season total in school history.

Baumstark had 1,104 assists, and she led the OVC with 59 aces, sixth-best on the school's single-season list. She also added 122 kills. Hastings was third on the team with 181 kills, while Schlader finished with 115 kills.

Sophomore defensive specialist Linden Hahs (Jackson High School) and sophomore outside hitter Sirma Ozenir also return after seeing limited action last year.

Rounding out the roster are three freshmen, with Nowacki looking for all of them to have an impact. The newcomers are middle blockers Katrina Niemeyer and Kim Unnerstall, and setter Alyssa Aston.

"I expect all 11 players to contribute," Nowacki said.

Nowacki also expects her first-year assistant coach, Jaime Burns, to have a positive impact on the program. The two were teammates at the University of Mississippi.

"She's a great addition for us," Nowacki said.

The Redhawks play their first 12 matches on the road, with the first home contest set for Sept. 30 against Eastern Kentucky.