Reflecting On The Bulldogs' First Year In The Big South
December 03, 2008 | Volleyball
An extremely young Gardner-Webb volleyball team competed hard in its first season of Big South Conference play and showed promise of bright things to come in the near future. Although the record was not great, the team came together and learned what it will take to become a top-flight contender not only in the Big South, but also against the rest of the NCAA.
The senior class of Bethany Martin, Katie Matykowski and Heidi Steinebrunner etched their names in GWU lore while helping the program make the transition into the ever-tough Big South. The trio also assisted a talented freshman class during a hard season.
The senior class was arguably the most productive of any class to come through Gardner-Webb since the school's move to Division I. Martin ended her stellar career as the program's all-time career leader in total blocks with 228. She also finished second in sets played (461), third in kills (1,060) and tied for eighth in service aces (76).
Matykowski could conceivably challenge for a spot in Gardner-Webb's Hall of Fame in a few years with the numbers that she put up during her tenure. She finished first in digs, service aces and sets played while also being among the top-10 in assists. Nobody on the current GWU roster has a chance to catch Matykowski in digs as she finished her career with 1,874, almost three hundred more than the second-place person and over 900 more than the most active member on the Red and Black squad.
The Sun Prairie, Wis., native sits atop the aces list with 146
and is in first with 463 sets played. Matykowski stands in ninth
place on the assists list with 98.
Steinebrunner, although only in a GWU uniform for two seasons, had
an outstanding career. She put away 643 kills, which is good enough
for fifth on the all-time list.
The seniors paved the way for the rookie class, which had a dominant force in Laura Wilcox and an all-around student-athlete in Evan Moffitt. Wilcox powered home a team-best 318 kills and notched a .239 attack percentage, which also rated best on the squad. She led the team with 53 total blocks while also registering a respectable 152 digs.
Throughout the season, Wilcox continued to impress her peers and colleagues as she garnered six New Balance Freshman of the Week honors from the conference office. Prior to the conference tournament, Wilcox earned Big South Freshman of the Year accolades while also being named second-team all-conference.
Moffitt continued to gain more playing time as the season wore on once she showed the promise of being a good fit in multiple positions. Moffitt played in112 sets and although her numbers were not spectacular, they were very solid considering she was used in various facets of head coach Chris Phillips' game plan.
Another rookie that played well was Tamia Herholz. The newcomer gained a starting spot virtually from the first day and proved she will be a force to be reckoned with during her time at Gardner-Webb. A middle blocker, Herholz showed she was a solid defensive player after amassing 165 digs on the season.
Fellow first-year student-athlete Lauren Evans had glimpses of how good she will be the next three years. Coming off surgery prior to her arrival, Evans stepped up to lead the way at times despite never being 100 percent. The powerful right arm of Evans notched 14 kills in the Bulldogs' first-ever victory over Winthrop while chipping 12 kills in a win over Presbyterian. With a full off-season to recover, Evans has a chance to make a dramatic impact next year with the departure of Steinebrunner.
Freshman Brittany Wilson showed she was the glue that kept the team together. When things weren't going great on the court, Wilson was there to pick her teammates up. Near the end of the regular season, Wilson stepped up her game and saw more time on the court than she had at the outset. In the win over Winston-Salem State, Wilson notched a team-best 11 digs to go along with two aces. In the barnburner at Davidson, she amassed a career-high nine kills, showing Phillips that she can make a difference for the team.
The junior class has been consistent throughout their time at Gardner-Webb. Regina Feagin already has established herself as the most dominant passer in the school's history with 3,543 assists. Feagin, who has 114 aces, has a chance to be the most productive behind the service line in the program's lore as well. This past season, she shared time at setter with Moffitt, but still nearly reached 1,000 assists in spite of the shared duty and the lowering of each set's point total from 30 to 25.
Hit with injuries, the Bulldogs were forced to move Matykowski to the front row, opening a spot for Brett Wilson as the libero near midseason. In the role that Wilson had waited two and a half years to play, she emerged as the front-runner to Matykowski's job next season.
Wilson got her first career start at home against Liberty and thrived with a team-best 17 digs in the five-set heartbreaking loss. Wilson continued to prove a steady force the remainder of the season as she had double-digit digs efforts against Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern.
One of the problems that lingered throughout the season was the injury to Jessica Clayton. A projected starter and valuable player, Clayton played in just 22 matches after getting injured in the season-opening tournament.
After starting the season out at the Wildcat Classic against three formidable opponents, including Pac-10 power Arizona, the Red and Black returned for its home tournament, the Runnin' Bulldog Classic.
There, the team put together an impressive 3-2 victory over Charleston Southern. In front of the home fans, GWU struggled in the opening set before bouncing back to tie it before intermission. Down 2-1, the team fought off the Lady Bucs in the fourth, winning 25-23, forcing a deciding fifth set. The Bulldogs won 17-15 behind the strength of Steinebrunner's 17 kills. Wilcox and Evans had 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Fifty-five of the team's assists came from Feagin, propelling the offensive to an explosive night.
The next afternoon GWU dispatched Winston-Salem State 3-0. In the 65-minute match, Wilcox led the way with 10 kills while Brittany Wilson added her team-best 11 digs.
On the road again for the next three weekends, the Bulldogs suffered through a losing drought entering conference play. Then, on Sept. 26, GWU traveled to Clinton, S.C., for its first-ever Big South Conference match. There, the team bested fellow league newcomer Presbyterian by a 3-0 score. Steinebrunner slammed home a team-best 13 kills while Wilcox posted a double-double effort. In the match, Matykowski dug up 17 attacks.
The next afternoon, the Bulldogs were at home to face Winthrop, a team they had never defeated. After losing the first set, GWU bounced back to take the next two by identical 26-24 scores. The team lost the fourth set and were down 14-11 before a side-out gave the ball to Feagin to serve. Feagin did the damage and eventually ended the contest on an ace as the squad won 16-14 for not only its first-ever victory over Winthrop, but also its first-ever Big South home win.
The team continued to fight hard the rest of the season, winning a 3-2 match at home against Presbyterian, but lost four five-set affairs the remainder of the way.
Even in the matches that the Bulldogs were swept, there was an air of confidence in the team that could be felt. The goals for the season were not reached, but the Bulldogs have climbed a step or two up from where they were before. Part of that was because of the upperclassmen, but part was due to the freshmen bringing a winning mentality to the mix.
Regardless of the record, the 2008 volleyball team will be one
that is talked about for seasons to come for many reasons. Some of
the reasons include the beginning of conference play in the Big
South while other reasons are more noteworthy. It marked the first
time the program has had a Freshman of the Year in the league and
the squad had its first all-conference honoree in a number of
years. The main reason, however, is because the team took a giant
leap to where it wants to be next year. The squad hit a few bumps
along the way, but has come out stronger than it was prior to the
season and better than it was in August because of the
student-athletes coming into the program and the ones leaving. The
2008 team definitely laid a solid foundation for great things in
the 2009 campaign.
