Illinois State volleyball owns all the Missouri Valley Conference records for home attendance in Redbird Arena. When the 2001 team begins practice Wednesday, head coach Sharon Dingman will have a record crowd on the court with 12 returning players and five newcomers adding up to a roster of 17.
Dingman, in her 11th year as a college head coach and her second at Illinois State, admits that the large squad is something new for her, but she likes it.
"It's a record (roster size) by about three for me," said Dingman. "It presents a challenge for everybody because the players aren't used to it, either. But the great thing is that we will have depth where we've never had it before."
According to Dingman, the 23 days between Wednesday's 9 a.m. first practice and the Aug. 31 opener against Louisville in the Barker GMC Classic at Redbird Arena will feature players challenging for starting positions and getting ready to play well from the opening serve of the season.
Although all spots are considered open in Dingman's scheme, she admits preseason all-conference setter Becky Weber should hold her position and senior Abby Lewis will have playing time.
"It would be a surprise for Becky not to be our No. 1 quarterback," said Dingman. "We also expect that Abby will be on the floor in some capacity and we have expectations for some of the other players, but, other than that, it's wide open. It's always a bonus when somebody (unexpectedly) steps up."
More than many sports, volleyball teams generally 'take shape' as the season rolls on and try to play their best at the end of the season.
With five seniors and seven juniors, Dingman believes this team can start fast.
"We aren't thinking about a season-long progression," said Dingman, whose Redbirds were 19-10 last year, 15-3 in the Missouri Valley. "We want to be playing well at the right times during the season, but we want to play really good volleyball from the start."
Looking at the schedule, the 'Birds will have to 'be good' at the start. In the first three weekends of the season, they play four teams (Louisville, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, South Carolina and Utah) who were in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Those four teams averaged 24 wins last season.
2001 Redbird Numerical Roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown (High School/Last School)
2 Staci Boyce* OH 5-11 So. Lockport, Ill. (Lockport)
3 Megan Stephenson*** OH 5-11 Sr. Jeffersonville, Ind. (Jeffersonville)
4 Amber Rogers MB 6-1 Fr. Muskegon, Mich. (Mona Shores)
6 Becky Weber*** S 5-10 Sr. Union, Ill. (Huntley)
7 Brandi Petelle* DS 5-10 Sr. Bradley, Ill. (Bradley-Bourbonnais/Louisville)
8 Paige White OH 5-8 Fr. Bloomington, Ill. (University)
9 Abby Lewis*** OH 5-10 Sr. Normal, Ill. (Normal West)
10 Erin Jones** OH 6-0 Jr. Bloomington, Ill. (Normal Community)
11 B Corbin*** OH 6-0 Sr. St. Louis, Mo. (Oakville)
12 Jonna Burchett** DS 5-7 Jr. Warrenville, Ill. (Wheaton-Warrenville South)
13 Julie Washburn** OH 5-8 Jr. Martinsville, Ill. (Kansas)
15 Jenny Kabbes** MB 6-0 Jr. Normal, Ill. (Bloomington Central Catholic)
17 Megan OConnell** OH 6-4 Jr. Springfield, Ill. (Sacred Heart-Griffin)
18 Christy Beyers* MB 6-3 Jr. Shelbyville, Ill. (Shelbyville/Bradley)
20 Wendi Roesch DS 5-4 Fr. Bloomington, Ill. (University)
21 Lacy McFarland S/DS 5-7 Jr. Taylorville, Ill. (Taylorville/Long Island)
22 Kelly Rikli S 5-10 Fr. Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch)
(* - denotes letters earned)
HEAD COACH: Sharon Dingman (Northern Michigan 84) 208-124, 10 years as head coach; 19-10, 1 year at Illinois State
ASSISTANT COACHES: Phil Nickel (Cincinnati 95), Jeni Jones (Florida 99)
ATHLETIC TRAINER: Jill Francis
STUDENT MANAGER: Lesley Harris
