Katie Sumner gets fired up

The Wittenberg University volleyball team enters the 2010 season riding a 65-match North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) winning streak - yet eighth-year Head Coach Paco Labrador is far from satisfied. He oversees a program with a lengthy track record of conference success, but he is confident that his veteran team has designs on bigger things after two straight early exits from the NCAA Division III Tournament.

A three-year run of national semifinal finishes ended in 2007, yet amazingly just Labrador and senior Amy Cox (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) remain from that last, heart-breaking Final Four loss to eventual national champion Washington University. Since then, the Tigers have continued to dominate the NCAC with back-to-back undefeated runs through the regular season and tournament, but they have just one postseason win to show for their efforts.

A new season brings a new line-up, with Cox playing a pivotal role in it as she takes her 5-11 frame from the right side to setter. A second-team All-NCAC honoree in 2009, Cox has primarily been an outside hitter during her collegiate career, but in 2010 she will be the team's primary distributor, taking over for honorable mention All-American Erin Slattery, who graduated in May.

Cox has plenty of quality options on offense, starting with junior middle hitter Katie Sumner (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson), who earned first-team all-conference honors in 2009 after ranking third on the team with 138 kills and first with 70 blocks a year ago. Cox ranked second on the team in kills, just eight behind junior outside hitter Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley), who also finished second on the team in digs with 311 in a breakout 2009 campaign.

Kimmie Dyer

Junior right-side hitter Christine Simpson (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) and sophomore libero Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas) round out the list of returning starters. Simpson added 133 kills and 58 blocks to the cause a year ago, while Gilene topped the team with 430 digs.

A total of 12 letterwinners return to the roster in 2010, and all are in the mix for playing time. At outside hitter, that includes juniors Hillary Monnin (Russia, Ohio/Russia) and Hannah Riley (Minerva, Ohio/Minerva) and sophomore Jessie Batanian (Sylvania, Ohio/St. Ursula), while on the right side, it includes juniors Elyse Adams (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) and Catherine Farny (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran).

In the middle, junior Miranda Sagle (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) came on strong as the 2009 season progressed, and she is expected to see significant playing time this year. She will be joined by freshman Andrea Behling (Columbus, Ind./North), while the team's other newcomer, defensive specialist Quin Gable (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) also factors prominently into Labrador's 2010 plans.

Rounding things out, sophomore Hallie Donathan (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) is a key for the team as its second setter.

The Tigers' 2010 schedule figures to prepare them well for the postseason, with seven of the top 10 teams in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association poll on it, including the top three teams in the nation.