Seasoned Players To Lead HPU Volleyball In 2009

2009 Volleyball Preview

Abram Choate, SID

BROWNWOOD, Texas – The 2009 Howard Payne volleyball team has seasoned players returning at every position and look to continue to build upon the success and momentum of the past season. 

The Howard Payne Lady Jacket volleyball team finished 16-13 overall last season, their first winning season since 2001. With a solid core group coming back and recruiting class the Lady Jackets look to battle for one of the three American Southwest Conference West Division playoff spots. 

“We are looking to continue to build upon the success and momentum of the past season,” said Ken Carver head volleyball coach “Coming off the program's first winning season since 2001 our focus will be two-fold: continue building a winning program and qualifying for the conference post-season tournament by finishing in one of the top three spots in the West Division.” 

Howard Payne will be led by All-Conference returners Tamika Heline and Amanda Gutierrez. Heline led HPU in Kills with 304 last season and was named ASC West Division Freshman of the Year and First Team ASC West Division. Gutierrez has third on the team in Kills and second in Blocks. She was named Honorable Mention All-West Division last year. 

Megan Pick and Sydney Bryant bring even more punch after finishing second and third on the team behind Heline in regards to total kills and attack percentage. Kristen Hammond will also anchor a solid HPU defense; she led the team in total digs and ended up being tenth in the conference in digs per set. 

“Since we only lost two players from last year's team this will be the most veteran team I've had in the four years I've been at HPU. Because of the success our team had in 2008, our returning players were extremely hungry for more and trained very hard during our off-season. With seasoned players at every position we are looking forward to our most successful season yet.” 

Along with the returners coach Carver has secured a good class of new recruits highlighted by Amber Cantu-Curry, Carlee Ammons, Sarah Davies and Jessica Guerra. Amber Cantu-Curry, a junior from McAllen, Texas, is a junior college transfer from Paris Junior College. She garnered All-Conference Honorable Mention accolades as a sophomore and finished #24 in the nation (NJCAA Division I) in aces per set. She will be slated to join returning setter Amy Crouch starting at setter. 

Joining Crouch and Cantu-Curry at the setting position will be freshman Jessica Guerra from Lockhart, Texas. As a senior Jessica earned 1st Team All-District honors and was named as her team's Most Valuable Player. Jessica played club volleyball with The Volleyball Academy of Texas. 

Carlee Ammons and Sarah Davies will look to add depth to our roster at the middle and right side hitter positions. Carlee is from Houston, Texas and was a four-year team member of the Homeschool Christian Youth Association (HCYA) Lady Eagle Volleyball Program as well as a two-year member of the Cool Court volleyball club. In her senior year and as one of the co-captains, Carlee helped her HCYA volleyball team to finish first in the Texas State Homeschool Tournament and a fifth place finish in the national tournament. 

Sarah Davies, also a Homeschool player, is from Austin, Texas and was a four-year member of Austin Athletic Fellowship Royals Volleyball team. During her senior year Sarah was named as the team's Best All-Around Player and garnered several All-Tournament awards throughout the season. Sarah played club volleyball with the Austin Juniors club program. A press release of the full 2009 volleyball recruit class will be released in the upcoming weeks.

“Everyone realizes how competitive our division is and the parity that exists. We are looking to continue to move our program up into the elite teams who have had sustained success in our conference,” Carver added. “To do that we must continue to stay focused on executing the fundamentals of the game at a high level, continue to improve our players' knowledge and understanding of the game, and play a passionate style of aggressive volleyball. 

The Lady Jackets will open up the 2009 season at the Eastern Mennonite University Tournament in Harrisonburg, VA on September 4th. Howard Payne will play their first home match on September 15th versus McMurry University at 7:00 pm.
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