VOLLEYBALL READY FOR CENTER STAGE

This area has long been home to some top-notch high school volleyball teams and 1999 should prove to be no exception.

As is always the case, a host of local squads enter the new season with high expectations, many of them coming off banner 1998 seasons, including Woodland, which finished fourth in the Class 2A state tournament, and Jackson, which won a school-record 29 matches.

Most of the local squads open the new season Tuesday, with some others opening later in the week. Following is a preview.

Cape Central

Debra Spinner, a Central assistant coach last season, takes over the Lady Tigers' program and she's excited about the prospects.

Central made steady progress a year ago, improving to 5-16-2 after winning only two matches the previous season.

"We've got good chemistry and I'm looking for good things," said Spinner. "The girls have really worked hard. I look for us to win at least two or three more matches than we did last year."

The Lady Tigers have five returning varsity players and most of them saw regular action a year ago: senior twins Andrea and Amber Birk, fellow seniors Katie Cozy and Ashley McElreath and junior Sarah Brown.

Spinner will also be counting on five more juniors: Gabe Bragg, Allison Eaton, Tara Duncan, Mandy Blattner and Shannon Fee.

Central opens the season Tuesday at Bloomfield.

Notre Dame

Helen Payne, who last coached the Lady Bulldogs in 1995, is back at the helm of the Notre Dame program. She expects to field a highly competitive squad that should have a good chance at bettering last year's 15-13-2 record.

"I don't really know about what the other teams have, but we should be very competitive and I think we should have a winning record," Payne said.

Payne expects to have quite a bit of depth, with most of the 13 team members challenging for plenty of playing time.

"All the girls are pretty even," Payne said. "We should be able to use a lot of players."

Returning starters are seniors Carrie Halter and Rachel Beussink while senior Michelle Hency also saw quite a bit of action last year.

Other seniors are Jill Edwards, Gabby LeGrand and Amy Essner while juniors are Lynne Obermiller, Katie Canfield, Cindy Cox, Vanessa Landewee, Jessica Daniel, Kim Crader and Amber Elfrink, although Elfrink has been injured.

An interesting sidelight for the Lady Bulldogs is that Payne's daughter Tara will serve as head JV and varsity assistant coach.

Notre Dame begins play Tuesday in the Woodland Tournament, facing Bell City.

Jackson

Coming off last year's sensational 29-3-2 record that featured a 4A district title, the Lady Indians are in something of a rebuilding mode, with only one returning starter.

Still, coach Nancy Ellis likes the look of her squad and believes the Lady Indians will be highly competitive.

"We lost six seniors so we're going to have a lot different team," Ellis said. "But we have a lot of enthusiasm and all the girls are working really hard. The girls are athletes and they want to win. I see us right in there competing and I'm hoping we can be at least .500."

Jackson's lone returning starter is junior Andrea Koeper, who will be a key player for the Lady Indians.

"Andrea is a very good player and we'll be looking for her to give us some stability," said Ellis.

Senior Casey Randol is the only other returning Lady Indian who saw considerable action last season as she was the first player off the bench.

Ellis will also be counting on three other returning seniors squad members in Emily Unverferth, Marci Myracle and Melinda Burnett, along with junior Sarah Biri, sophomore Erin Hartman and two freshmen: Jenna Leet and Jennifer Mesey.

Jackson hosts St. Vincent Tuesday.

Scott City

Youth will be the key word for Scott City this season as the Lady Rams return only one player with much varsity experience from last year's team that won nine matches.

Still, second-year coach Barbara Ice expects good things, saying, "We're a very young team, but I have a feeling they're going to do real well."

The lone returning starter is senior Whitney Baer.

Juniors expected to see playing time are Lindsay Baker, Pam Page and Ashley Wiggins while sophomores in the mix are McKenzie Cartwright and Mindy Miller.

Ice said that as many as three freshmen could possibly start, with Cidney Baer, Rachel Spinks and Megan Ressel all showing plenty of promise.

Scott City hosts New Madrid Thursday.

Chaffee

Chaffee returns plenty of experience as the Lady Red Devils try to improve on last year's 8-14 record.

"I expect us to be competitive," said coach Paulette Crouthers. "We only lost two seniors. The girls have a lot of experience and they really work well together."

The Lady Red Devils return four senior starters in Jill Little, Amy Burnett, Angela Holland and Bridget Rains.

Robin Gardner and Casey Hampton, two other seniors who did not play last year but have been in the program before, are back with the squad.

Crouthers said she will also be counting on five junior who started on last year's JV team: Ashley Smith, Brooke McFerron, Morgan Kiefer, Casey Graviett and Courtney Loucks.

Chaffee visits Oran Thursday.

Perryville

Despite losing six seniors, coach Tim Steffens is hopeful that his Lady Pirates can improve upon last season's 12-15-2 record.

"We're kind of scrappy I guess you could say," said Steffens, whose team reached the 3A quarterfinals two years ago. "If everybody plays up to the way I expect they should, we should be able to compete pretty well. I'd like to really improve on last year's record, but we play a tough schedule and we're in a really tough conference."

The two returning starters are senior Nicole Blechle and junior Jamie Amberger.

Two other players, senior Jennifer Triller and junior Natalie Bohnert, were part-time regulars last season.

Steffens will also be counting on senior Amber Stakes, along with seven juniors: Andrea Buerck, Robyn Mueller, Susan Miller, Crystal Thieret, Katie Buerck, Rachel Best and Melissa Riney.

Perryville hosts Ste. Genevieve Thursday.

St. Vincent

Things are definitely looking up for the Squaws, according to coach Stacie Bauwens, whose squad went 11-15-4 last season against a rugged schedule.

"Things are looking very promising," said Bauwens. "We played this year for the first time in the Cape summer league. We didn't know what to expect but we won our division, so we were real pleased.

"Our conference (the Jefferson County Conference) has so many tough teams but I really think we can compete with a lot of them this year."

Bauwens will rely heavily on six seniors, led by all-conference and all-district hitter Jessica Lakenan, who enters her third season as a starter.

Other returning regulars among the seniors are Casey Kirn and Valerie Klaus while Amie Leible played a lot, Cari Strattman was a defensive specialist and Madeline Clements also contributed.

Bauwens is also looking for good things from juniors Stacie Lane, Danielle Sutterer and Amie Richardet, along with sophomore Becky Kirn.

St. Vincent visits Jackson Tuesday.

Advance

Kimberly Aggertt, fresh off being a key member of the Southeast Missouri State University volleyball team the past two seasons, begins her first high school coaching assignment as she takes over the Advance program.

"I'm very excited," said Aggertt. "The girls are working hard and I think the team is looking pretty good."

Aggertt said two of the Lady Hornets' goals for the season are to have a winning record and to simply play well.

"Their big goal is to play well against everybody," she said. "If they do lose, they want to come off the court feeling they played well."

The Lady Hornets will be counting on five seniors and three juniors. The seniors are Sheila Stubenrauch, Kristin DeJournett, Heidi Delay, Jessica Eftink and Jennifer Phelps while the juniors are Emily Johnson, Amber Bond and Michelle Laird.

Advance hosts Puxico Sept. 9.

Bell City

The Lady Cubs return four starters from last year's 19-10 squad, but one of their graduation losses was a major one: first-team 1A all-stater Courtney Brockmeyer.

"When your lose somebody like Courtney, it's really tough," said veteran coach Carl Ritter. "But I think we'll still be very competitive. There will be some good teams around here so we'll have to play well. It's going to be tough to match that record (19-10) again."

Returning starters for Bell City are seniors Jessica Shelby and Kelli Steiner, junior Brooke Stephens and sophomore Katie Spears. Shelby was the team's second-leading hitter last year behind Brockmeyer while Steiner is the setter.

Ritter is also counting on several other players, who all saw action last year, to provide contributions. They include seniors Meghan Dover and Sarah Pobst and junior Lindsay Standridge.

Bell City plays Notre Dame Tuesday in the Woodland Tournament.

Charleston

As the Lady Blue Jays enter their fourth season of fielding a volleyball team, coach Janet DeField is looking for improvement from last year's squad that won two matches.

"We're still a young team, but I'm looking to see a lot of improvement," DeField said. "The girls are working very hard."

The Lady Jays return eight players who saw at least some varsity action last season, led by seniors Helen Oliver and Amanda Payne, who both started in 1998.

Six juniors also are back: Kari Barnhart, Amy Simmons, Sara Duenne, Mary Clair Hobbs, Maggie Stephenson and Leia Ponder.

Charleston hosts Caruthersville Tuesday

Fredericktown

With every starter returning, coach Kevin Coffman expects the Lady Cats to improve on last year's 12-13 record.

"I'm very optimistic. I think we should be competitive in just about all of our matches, if the right team shows up on the right night," said Coffman. "I've told the girls that the difference between a good team and a great team is consistency. We've been working on consistency a lot."

Returning starters for the Lady Cats are seniors Betsy Moyers, Jessica Autry and Autumn Swinford; junior Amy Moyers; and sophomores Megan Leonard and Nickey Tucker.

Players up from the JV who Coffman expects to see action are juniors Tesson Kemp, Betsy Allgier and Jaimi Wengler, along with sophomore Ashley Ward.

Fredericktown hosts Herculaneum Tuesday

Leopold

After winning the 1A state championship two years ago, Leopold had another solid season last year, going 18-11-1.

Coach Leanne Huffman, armed with plenty of experienced players and a large squad that numbers 14, is looking for the Lady Wildcats to continue their recent success.

"I expect us to have a good season and I'm hoping it will be better than last year," said Huffman. "I don't know if it will be as good as two years ago, but I do have good players coming back and I've got an abundance of girls."

Three full-time starters are back, led by senior Sarah Gowen, who earned second-team all-state honors last year. Fellow seniors Emily Broshuis and Gwen Vandeven also return as regulars while two more seniors, Kelly Wesbecher and Megan Keith, split starting duties a year ago.

Huffman is also looking for contributions from two more returning seniors, Jennifer Elfrink and defensive specialist Amy Stroder.

Leopold faces Greenville Tuesday in the Woodland Tournament.

Marquand

Ed Ikemeier, who will also serve as Marquand's boys basketball coach, takes over the Lady Tigers' program.

"I think we can have a pretty good year," said Ikemeier, who had been coaching at Farmington. "I think we look really good and energetic. They're enjoying it and working hard."

Among the players Ikemeier said he will be counting on are seniors Hannah Lakies and Sonya Afshar; juniors Heather Hansmann, Katy Mills, Melinda Menendez and Tina Robbins; and freshmen Michelle Poe and Katie Stroup.

Marquand plays at Kingston Tuesday.

Meadow Heights

While Meadow Heights lost virtually its entire lineup from last year's 23-7 team, second-year coach Erin Hoffman still looks for an extremely competitive squad.

"We're looking pretty good," Hoffman said. "Basically my whole varsity was seniors last year, but the JV went 19-2. All the girls are working really hard and I think we'll be very competitive."

The Lady Panthers have only two seniors. Mariah Bollinger played the front row last year while Cassie James was injured most of the season and saw only limited action.

Hoffman will be looking for good things from juniors Lisa Jones, Emily Heitman and Tara Fulton while a host of sophomores are competing for varsity berths, including Jami Fulton, Holly Boyd, Ashley Brune, Tessa Bollinger, Hannah James, Hillary Venneman and Jamie Heitman.

Meadow Heights plays Zalma Wednesday in the Woodland Tournament.

Oak Ridge

Second-year Oak Ridge coach Pam Kutz believes her well-rounded team, despite losing a pair of its top players, will be able to compete well against the usual rugged competition in this area.

"We've got a young team, but we're pretty talented from what I can tell and all the girls seem to play all positions well," said Kutz.

The Lady Blue Jays return four starters from last season in seniors Kim Cowan and Kristie Reid and juniors Deanna Schreiner and Allison Miles.

Kutz also has high hopes for two impressive sophomores: Jenny Hrabik and Candice Schaper.

Other players Kutz is counting on are juniors Erin Pavelka and Julie Myers.

Oak Ridge hosts St. Vincent Sept. 7.

Oran

Tonya Skinner, an Oran assistant last year, takes over as coach of the Lady Eagles and she has high expectations of greatly improving on last season's three victories.

"I'm looking for a lot better things. We hope to improve on last year's record quite a bit," said Skinner. "We only graduated three girls and our JV had a good record last year. They were an overall solid team and they'll help the varsity out a lot."

The Lady Eagles have 14 varsity players, which Skinner likes because she plans on specializing quite a bit.

Among players Skinner will be counting on are five returning seniors, led by standout hitter Sara Heisserer. The other seniors are Mistie Senciboy, Jennifer Laus, Kelly Wheeler and Sara Bouge.

Skinner will also be looking for contributions from many juniors, including Stacey Eftink and Rebecca Trankler.

Oran's new head coach preaches teamwork and togetherness, believing those attributes can take a team a long way.

"When I was a senior, I played on an undefeated state championship team at Bloomfield. We weren't the most talented but we really played together," she said. "I believe that's very important and that's what I hope we can do."

Oran hosts Richland Tuesday.

Woodland

Emily Johnson takes over the Woodland program this year, but she is anything but a normal rookie head coach.

Not only was Johnson a former standout player for the Lady Cardinals, but she served as an assistant last year. And, when head coach Tammy Brock gave birth early in the 1998 season, Johnson basically ran the squad the remainder of the campaign.

Johnson evidently did quite a job because Woodland went 22-15 and finished fourth in the state among 2A teams.

"I think last year was really a good experience for me," said Johnson. "We had a very good season and all the girls with us this year got to go on the state trip.

"But we can't live off what happened last year. We have to have our own identity. One of the big things we have to do this year is work on being consistent."

The Lady Cardinals return three starters from last year, led by senior Sarah Booth, a second-team all-state selection in 1998 who has been all-conference the past three seasons.

Other returning regulars are seniors Lilo Whitener and Julia Cutsinger.

Junior Amanda Jordan saw quite a bit of varsity action last year while Johnson will be counting on six more juniors in Jessica Bollinger, Melinda Jackson, Ashley Allmon, Ashley Eaker, Leah Dowd and Karrie Filer, along with sophomore Danyel Farrell.

Woodland opens the season in its own tournament. The No. 1 seed has a first-round bye and will play in the semifinals Thursday.

Zalma

Zalma, which has four starters returning, looks to have another highly competitive season after last year's 12-12 record.

"Our outlook is pretty upbeat," said coach Shannon Garner. "We've got some good girls back and if our setter comes through like I hope, then we'll be pretty decent."

Returning regulars for the Lady Bulldogs are juniors Amber Buehler, Erika Campbell and Carrie Pixley, along with senior Maresia Sneed.

The sophomore Garner mentioned as being a key is sophomore Jennifer Barrett. Others who figure to see plenty of action are senior Brandi Garner, sophomore Mary Kay Hovis and junior Melissa Mangrum.

Zalma faces Meadow Heights Wednesday in the Woodland Tournament.