August 2006
Lady Bulldogs Open 2006 Season
Friday, August 25 2006
The University of Montana Western Lady Bulldog volleyball team opens the 2006 season on the road at the Jamestown Invitational Tournament Friday, Aug. 25 and Saturday, Aug. 26.
Montana Western faces Minot State Friday at 12:30 p.m. and Jamestown at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs play Waldorf College at 9 a.m. and Dickinson State at 1:45 p.m.
The 2006 season marks the end of one era and the beginning of another for the University of Montana Western volleyball program. After 13 years, Jenny Peterson is stepping down as head volleyball coach. Counting her time as a Lady Bulldog player, Peterson spent nearly 20 years in the Montana Western volleyball program. Her career record was 217-188, including three conference co-championships and the programs first ever trip to regional competition. Peterson was named Frontier Conference ‘Coach of the Year’ in 2002.
Normally, when a team has a new head coach there is an adjustment or transition to make. That will not be the case with Montana Western this season as assistant Katie Ryan Howells moves up to the head position. Howells played for Peterson for four years and spent the past four years as Peterson’s assistant.
“I am really excited for the opportunity,” said Howells. “But, I am mostly excited about the beginning of the season. There won’t be a lot of change in respects to philosophy. We are going to stay with what works. With all the new players, we need to get everything ironed out and running smoothly before we add anything new.”
Gone from the program are six players that definitely made their presence known during their careers. Gone are Casey Barry, Kendall Bradley, Shannon O’Keefe, Jenny Ramondelli, Lindsey Scott and Katherine Sunwall. Both Scott and Sunwall were All-Conference selections with Sunwall named the conference ‘MVP’. In addition, she earned 1st team All-District and second team All-American honors.
Montana Western finished the 2005 season with a 16-13 overall record and 8-6 in the Frontier Conference. All and all, a good season, except for its finish. For the third straight season, the Lady Bulldogs lost in the first round of the conference tournament.
Howells will build her 2006 program around senior All-Conference outside hitter Jenny Finlay (5-11) of Riverton, Utah. Three players, who saw significant action off the bench, also return. They are junior outside hitter Nicole Clark (5-9) of Kalispell, Mont. and sophomores Arron Field (5-11), a middle blocker from Hinsdale, Mont. and right side hitter Lindsey Nicholls (5-9) of Twin Bridges, Mont. Entering the active roster are redshirt freshmen Kiley Myers, a defensive specialist from Laurel, Mont. and Brianna Ternes, an outside hitter from Anaconda, Mont.
“We saw some really great things from Jenny in the spring,” added Howells. “She is really stepping into the captain’s role and looks to be a great leader for the upcoming season. Nicole is now coming out of her shell. She is more aggressive at the net and being more vocal on the court. She likes being a leader to the younger players. Lindsey played a lot of positions for us. She was versatile and played where we needed her. Now, she can concentrate on the right side. Arron will play in the middle for us. She was timid last year but worked very hard in the spring and she fits in well. Brianna will be our utility player. She will fill-in when we need to bring someone out. The good thing is, she can do that because has the talent. Kiley and Nicole will play a lot in the back row.”
Five of the six new players in the program come from the high school ranks. Only Nicole Mertens, a transfer from the Green River Community College is not. Mertens is a 5-4 defensive specialist from Auburn, Wash.
“In the first weeks of practice, we did a lot of transition work,” said Howells. “We really worked on the transition to the hitters, and digging. The back-row people will have to get used to harder, faster hits, and being able to read the other team. It is a big change. Hopefully in a week or so, we will be headed into the right direction.”
The four freshmen who will see action are setter Stephanie Couture (5-5) of Colorado Springs, Colo., middle blocker Ashlee Johnson (5-9) of Dutton, Mont., defensive specialist Kyla Rasmussen (5-4) of Choteau, Mont. and middle blocker Kirilyn Winkler (6-0) of Great Falls, Mont.
“Last year, Lindsey (Scott) didn’t have a back-up setter. Stephanie will probably gets the nod at setter because of her year-round experience in club volleyball,” said Howells. She is used to the faster sets. Kirilyn is going to do a good job. She will need some work in quick sets because she wasn’t used to that in high school. She is athletic and talented and should catch on in a hurry. Ashlee will be a utility player too.”
The Lady Bulldogs will get ready for the always-tough Frontier Conference with a preseason schedule that includes tournament stops at Jamestown College, the University of Great Falls and their own invitational. In addition, Montana Western will play non-conference matches against Frontier Conference rival Montana Tech and Idaho State of the Big Sky Conference.
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