Published: August 29, 2008 01:06 am            

FSU volleyball team set for season opener

FAIRMONT — Junior middle hitter Micah Bell and senior outside hitter Alisha Starcher will lead a young, but talented Fairmont State women’s volleyball team into its season-opening tournament this weekend when the Falcons travel to Latrobe, Pa. for the St. Vincent College Invitational.

FSU will open play with a pair of matches Friday in the invitational against Dickinson and Ursuline. On Saturday the Falcons will tangle with Waynesburg and Carlow.

“We’re hoping that the young kids who got a wealth of experience for us last season will provide us with a good basis this fall to get this season going,” said veteran coach Larry Hill, who is entering 24th season coaching the sport at the school and has a career record of 507-408. “We’ve brought in some really outstanding young athletes and as they mature I think we’re going to get better and better as the season goes along.

“We only have one senior, one junior and eight sophomores and those eight sophomores played a lot for us last year. We have six very, very talented freshman and three or four of them are going to make a contribution for us right off the bat.”

FSU will have to replace four-year starter Staci Skinner, who garnered some type of all-league honors in three of her years with the Falcons. She led the team and the conference in kills per game (4.06) last year during the regular season.

One player Hill knows he can count on this fall to be solid is Bell, a second-team All-West Virginia Conference selection last season who averaged 3.38 kills, 3.45 blocks and 3.66 points per game.

Starcher, too, will be a valuable commodity for FSU. She averaged 1.61 kills, 2.22 points and was second on the squad in blocks (67).

Fairmont’s 6-2 attack will feature Bell and sophomore Alyse Custer as the outside hitters. In the two middle hitter spots three individuals including Starcher, sophomore Theresa Zapach and freshman Leah Cyrus are expected to split time. Starcher, sophomore Aushia Beavers and freshman Jessica Seevers are vying for time as the right side attackers. Beavers was second on the team in digs last fall with 402.

Working at the two setters spots are returning sophomore starter Ashley Conger, freshman Amber Shreeves, sophomore Alicia McIntire and Seevers. Conger led the team in assists last season with 931.

The defensive specialist or liberio will be either freshman Morgan Walls, sophomore Brittany Tallhamer or sophomore Anyssa Greco.

“We have about 12 kids who can definitely play for us and one of our better players, freshman Meagan Gibson, is down with an injury right now,” said Hill. “Actually we’ve got 16 kids on our roster and it’s not out of the question that all of them could see time for us.”

The Falcons finished 11-21 overall last season and 10-8 in the WVC. FSU was picked in the preseason coach’s poll to finish seventh in the 16-team league this fall. Wheeling Jesuit and Charleston, two teams who have combined to win the last nine WVC regular-season titles, are picked one and two in the conference this year. WJU, last season’s champion, received nine first-place votes, while UC garnered two.

Fairmont State opens play in the WVC Wednesday, Sept. 3 when it visits West Liberty. The Falcons’ home opener is Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. against West Virginia State at the Joe Retton Arena.

FSU’s graduate assistant coach this season is Courtney Taubert, who was a four-year letterwinner as an outside hitter at Division II Cal State Monterey Bay.

The NCAA adopted one major rule change in the sport this season. Games will now be played to 25 points and not the traditional 30 points in an effort to speed up play.

        

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