Aug. 15, 2006

ABILENE, Texas - After a season that brought the first ASC West Division title to the Forty Acres, the Hardin-Simmons' volleyball team goes into 2006 with possibly the highest expectations in school history.

The Cowgirls rolled to a 19-11 record, which was only the second winning record for the HSU program since 1990. With that came the division title and eventually a win away from the NCAA Tournament. The Cowgirls lost in the ASC final to Austin College and gave them their first taste of post-season action.

"The level of expectations for HSU volleyball has certainly been raised," said third-year head coach Hugh Hernesman. "Hardin-Simmons has not been in this position in the past. We expect to be one of the top teams in the league and we expect teams to be gunning for us. It is a good position for us to be in. We have some experienced kids now and we are striving for bigger things this year and in the future."

Leading the veteran team will be senior Virginia Aguilar, who was the 2005 ASC West Player of the Year. The middle blocker from Kalaheo, Hawaii should push for All-Region and possibly All-American honors this season after her huge year in 2005.

"Virginia is one of our go-to players, that's no real secret," said Hernesman. "She adds some steadiness to our team. She's so consistent and, what we call, `sneaky good'. At the end of the match and she has four blocks and 15 kills with great efficiency. She is so strong and has the ability to bring a physical dimension to her game that many teams can not match and is a lot more athletic than people realize."

The Cowgirls also have some experience with two other seniors and two juniors. Junior middle blocker/outside hitter Chelsea Buetow is back after missing a good portion of last season with an ankle injury. She is one of the top offensive threats in the ASC.

"Chelsea's versatility is a huge asset for us and we'll look at ways of utilizing that this season," said Hernesman. "She's has some unfortunate injuries over her first two seasons and we're excited to see what she can do over the course of an entire season."

Seniors Holly Amerena and Ali Childers bring depth as defensive specialists to the team. Amerena also serves as a reserve setter and Childers will also see some time on the outside.

"Ali and Holly are two players that can really help our defense and ball control," said Hernesman. "They both can play vital defensive roles and their roles as seniors will be a great asset. Ali has developed into one of our most consistent and steadying passers in serve receive and Holly possesses a high volleyball IQ and reads so well."

Megan Lawrence is a junior opposite for the Cowgirls and is one of the team leaders.

"Megan has the attention of everyone on the team," said Hernesman. "She leads by example, not only on the court, but off of it. Megan has really made herself into a player in the last couple years through her hard work in practice and in the weight room."

The Cowgirls return three freshmen from last season. Amber Montgomery, Jen Childers and Krystal Ziehe all return and are expected to play big roles for the team.

Montgomery played well late in the year on the outside and Ziehe was the libero late in the season. Jen Childers gives the Cowgirls another experienced hitter.

"We expect the three sophomores to be players for us." said Hernesman. "The one thing that all three bring to our program is position versatility. Amber played on both the left and right sides for us last year as well as in a defensive role at times. Krystal played mostly in a defensive role, but made great strides offensively in the spring, and Jen has the ability to play on both the left and right side while being a defensive possibility due to her high effort and mastery of our defensive techniques. They fought through the typical freshman ups and downs last year and they all have a place in the program.

Hernesman is really excited about another stellar recruiting class.

"We filled needs in the middle and at setter and also added some depth on the outside. I expect all five freshmen to come in and compete for court time. We definitely added some length and athleticism," Hernesman added. "We're real excited about adding this recruiting class to a core of solid, committed retuning athletes. We've added good character kids that will have great leadership from our returners"

Amanda Mace is a 5-9 outside hitter from Sachse. Vanessa Vanlandingham is a 6-0 middle blocker and Kaela Parnell can play middle or outside and is 5-11. Amanda Curry and Samantha Lucien will fight for the starting setters spot.

"We have a good mix of veterans and newcomers," said Hernesman. "I expect every day in practice to be a fight for playing time. It helps to have competitive depth throughout the roster. We will need to be deep, because of the bumps and bruises our schedule will likely bring."

The Cowgirls have an ambitious schedule that has them playing a number of nationally and regionally ranked programs in tournaments at Trinity and Southwestern. HSU will play Washington and Lee, Trinity, Southwestern, Lakeland, Huntingdon, Christopher Newport, Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Concordia (Minn.). A season-opening tournament at Wayland Baptist and Lubbock Christian will also test HSU early.

"It was our intent this year to upgrade the non-conference schedule," said Hernesman. "I'm not so sure we've had the talent or experience in the last two years to play an ambitious schedule like this one. For our program to raise its level of play, we need to see as many of the top programs in the region as we can. As an added bonus, we were able to add five schools that made appearances in the AVCA Top 25 poll last season. In addition, our conference schedule should provide a good challenge. Many of our teams have had good recruiting years and the coaching talent continues to improve year to year, despite losing some very quality coaches in the last year."