FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech volleyball team kicks off its regular season on Friday, August 21, when they travel to Mishawaka, Indiana for the Bethel Pilot Invitational, hosted by Bethel College.
Fourth year head coach
Kourtney Wilson welcomes back lots of youth to her Warriors squad after the departure of six seniors. Seven incoming freshman comprise almost half of the team, but with 11 upperclassmen in the mix, there is a steady group to lead them in 2015. After going 18-17 and making an appearance in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) quarterfinals last fall as the eighth seed, Wilson and the Warriors will look to keep improving this fall.
Senior outside hitter
Katelyn St. Martin and junior outside hitter
Cassie Sarabia will shoulder the load for the Tech offense this season after combining for 480 kills a season ago. St. Martin led the team in total attacks last year, while Sarabia finished fifth. Both will also look to pick up the slack on the blocking end for the Warriors after losing their top-three blockers to graduation last year. The duo will also be diving around the floor after finishing second and fourth on the team in digs last year.
Also returning to the front line are seniors
Emily Williams and Arriannna Cumberledge, juniors
Paige Doellman and
Jazmin Alexander and sophomores
Briyanna Axtell and
Lindsey Thomson. They will be joined by freshmen
Keasia Carlisle,
Courtney Mack,
Gabby Staggs,
Aubree Eggers and
Cynthia Vanden Bosch.
Sophomore
Karli Jones will continue to set up Tech hitters this season after registering 854 assists a season ago and ranking eighth in the WHAC in assists per set (7.0) as a freshman. She added 176 digs last year as well.
Junior defensive specialist/libero
Taylor Kelso will quarterback the back line for the Warriors once again after finishing fifth in the conference in digs per set (4.45) and racking up 581 digs in all. Sophomore
Haley Paonessa will join her on the back line after leading the team in aces last year (32) and finishing sixth in digs (95). Incoming freshmen
Mara Zell and
Autumn Stokes will look to contribute as well.
The Warriors kick off the Pilot Invitational taking on Ashford University (Iowa) and Warner University (Fla.) at 2 and 6 p.m., respectively. Ashford received four votes in the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll that was released on Tuesday. Tech concludes the invitational by battling Doane College (Neb.) at noon before closing out with the host Pilots at 4 p.m. Links to live video and stats will only be available for the match against Bethel and can be found on IndianaTechWarriors.com.
