Friday, August 22, 2008 11:10 PM CDT
EIU volleyball alumni match is today
By JG/T-C Staff
sports@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- Eastern Illinois volleyball squad is welcoming former Panthers back to campus this afternoon for an annual alumni match.
The 5 p.m. match, originally scheduled to be played in Lantz Arena, has been moved to Court No. 5 of the Student Recreation Center with this seasons Panthers playing alumni.
Fourteen alums, as well as former longtime Panther coach Betty Ralston (1983-98), have confirmed plans to attend. Most are expected to play, including former members of the 1998 squad that captured the regular-season Ohio Valley Conference championship – Kim (Blackwell) Roselund (1997-2000), Meleah (Cutler) Brinkoetter (1996-99), Kim DeMage (1998-2001), Marcia Hahn (1998-2001), Amy Heimann (1998-2001), Leslie Przekwas (1998-2001), and Genevieve (Ramos) O’Malley (1997-2000).
That squad went 24-7 overall while ending the OVC campaign with an impressive 17-1 record. In her final season as EIU head coach, Betty Ralston earned Coach of the Year honors following that excellent season.
Many of those same members were also on the 2001 OVC Tournament Championship unit that earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. Those players include classmates Kim DeMage, Marcia Hahn, Amy Heimann, and Leslie Przekwas. Carrie Stevens (1999-2002), who earned MVP honors after EIU picked up that OVC Tournament title, will also be on hand Saturday.
Other notable alumni set to play on Saturday are Jessica Ackerman (2002-05), Megan Kennedy (2002-05), Aja Kohlbecker (2002-05), Heather Redenbo (2002-05), and Mary Welch (2003-06). Those five players all played on the latest EIU squad to win an OVC title as the 2004 team tied for the regular-season championship behind a 25-6 overall record and 15-1 conference mark.
Recent EIU standouts Maren Crabtree (2004-07) and Eliza Zwettler (2006-07) are also set to return and give the 2008 Panther squad a good match.
“It’s my pleasure to welcome a large number of former Panthers back to campus,” EIU head coach Lori Bennett said. “This annual alumni contest is always a fun event and a great way for me to see how we are progressing. Once again I plan on varying our varsity squad in order to see how our systems are running with different player combinations.”
Coming off a 12-17 season and eighth place finish in the OVC in 2007, Bennett welcomes back five starters among the nine returning letterwinners, including sophomore outside hitter Alex Zwettler. Zwettler picked up Second Team Preseason All-OVC honors earlier this month after a standout freshman season where she set a new EIU freshman kill record to earn a spot on the OVC All-Newcomer squad.
The official start of the 2008 season is set for Friday, as the Panthers compete in the nine-team North Carolina Central University Tournament.
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