Montana hired Allison Lawrence as its head coach, Barton and Mount Olive recorded sweeps in the Conference Carolinas, the MPSF has three league matches Wednesday night and Gatorade released its list of the top players in each state.
Start with Lawrence, who has been the interim head coach since Brian Doyon stepped away at the end of a season in which the Grizzlies went 5-21, 2-14 in the Big Sky Conference. Lawrence, who played at Oregon State, has been an assistant at Montana since 2010.
This is from the Montana news release:
Lawrence’s appointment comes after a tumultuous half decade for the Griz volleyball program. Jerry Wagner stepped down after the 2014 season, following the team’s second 6-23 record in three years.
Doyon, previously an assistant coach at Utah, was hired in January 2015. Montana went 8-20 in Doyon’s first year, 5-21 last fall. The Grizzlies finished 6-26 in league matches in two years under Doyon.
Lawrence, who was hired by Wagner and retained by Doyon, was an assistant coach at Trinity University, a Division III school in San Antonio, Texas, prior to being hired by Wagner in 2010.
In other words, Montana is 25-87 the past five seasons.
The Division I openings still include Stanford, Loyola Marymount, Texas-Arlington, Stetson and Manhattan. And quite a few assistant-coach spots.
Barton, Mount Olive get men’s victories: Visiting Barton swept Belmont Abbey 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 in its ConfCarolinas opener to improve to 2-0. Belmont Abbey dropped to 0-2, 0-1.
Aleksa Brkovic led Barton with 15 kills. Liam Maxwell, Brennan Beyner and Robert Nixon had six kills apiece for the losers.
Mount Olive broke through after four losses to start the season and win its CC opener 25-15, 25-17, 25-15. Pfeiffer lost its season opener.
Robert Poole had 14 kills and hit .440 for Mount Olive. Evan Blair had 14 for Pfeiffer.
Three MPSF matches Wednesday: No. 5 Hawai’i (5-0 overall) plays its league opener at No. 4 Long Beach State (4-1, 1-1 MPSF, No. 2 UCLA (4-1, 2-0) is home for Cal Baptist (2-3, 1-1) and No. 12 UCSB (4-1) entertains USC (2-3, 1-1).
No. 3 BYU (3-1) plays its MPSF opener at No. 14 CSUN (6-1, 1-1) on Thursday.
There are two EIVA-MIVA matches Thursday, when Fort Wayne (0-6) goes to Harvard (0-2) and No. 9 Loyola (3-2) plays at No. 15 Penn State (2-2).
Gatorade lists state winners: The award was established in 1985 to recognize the nation’s most outstanding high school student-athletes for their athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character. Here’s a look at the 2016 winners in each state.
Italicized players indicate those who earned 2016 Lucky Dog Volleyball/VolleyballMag.com girls’ high school All-American honors. Santa Fe Christian’s Lexi Sun is the 2016 VBM player of the year.
Alabama: Lauren Chastang, 6-0, OH, Sr., Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.)
Alaska: Brynn Sulte, 6-2, MB, Sr., Dimond (Anchorage, Alaska)
Arizona: Brooke Nuneviller, 5-11, OH, Jr., Corona Del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.)
Arkansas: Ella May Powell, 6-0, S, Jr., Fayetteville (Ark.)
California: Lexi Sun, 6-2, OH, Sr., Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach, Calif.)
Colorado: Michaela Putnicki, 6-1, OH, Sr., Lewis-Palmer (Monument, Colo.)
Connecticut: Alana Hruska, 6-3, OH-MB, Jr., Rham (Hebron, Conn.)
Delaware: Sydney Fulton, 5-7, S, Sr., Delaware Military (Wilmington, Del.)
D.C.: Rebecca Frye, 5-10, S, Jr., St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.)
Florida: Stephanie Samedy, 6-2, OH, Sr., East Ridge (Clermont, Fla.)
Georgia: Gabby Curry, 5-9, OH-Lib., Sr., Buford (Ga.)
Hawaii: Elena Oglivie, 5-10, OH, Fresh., Iolani School (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Idaho: Dani Nay, 5-10, OH, Jr., Skyview (Nampa, Idaho)
Illinois: Charley Niego, 6-0, OH, Jr., Mother McAuley (Chicago, Ill.)
Indiana: Nia Robinson, 6-2, OH, Sr., Cathedral (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Iowa: Mackenzie May, 6-3, OH, Sr., Wahlert Catholic (Dubuque, Iowa)
Kansas: Madison Lilley, 5-11, S, Sr., Blue Valley West (Overland Park, Kan.)
Kentucky: Paige Hammons, 6-2, OH, Sr., Sacred Heart (Louisville, Ken.)
Louisiana: Ellie Holzman, 6-2, MB, Soph., Mount Carmel (New Orleans, La.)
Maine: Kayley Cimino, 5-9, S-RS, Sr., Greely (Cumberland, Maine)
Maryland: Jenaisya Moore, 5-10, OH, Soph., Northwest (Germantown, Md.)
Massachusetts: Riley James, 5-10, OH, Soph., Barnstable (Hyannis, Mass.)
Michigan: Erin O’Leary, 5-10, S, Jr., Novi (Mich.)
Minnesota: Sydney Hilley, 6-0, OH, Sr., Champlin Park (Champlin, Minn.)
Mississippi: Emma Funk, 5-10, OH-MB, Jr., Our Lady (Bay St. Louis, Miss.)
Missouri: Jenna Otec, 5-10, OH, Sr., St. Pius X (Festus, Mo.)
Montana: Elsa Godwin, 5-10, OH., Jr., Sentinel (Missoula, Mont.)
Nebraska: Brooke Heyne, 5-10, OH, Sr., Skutt (Omaha, Neb.)
Nevada: Sydney Berenyi, 5-11, OH, Jr., Silverado (Las Vegas, Nev.)
New Hampshire: Lauren Hatch, 6-1, MB, Sr. Concord (N.H.)
New Jersey: Elena Montgomery, 6-2, OH, Jr., Ramapo (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
New Mexico: Cat Kelly, 5-8, OH, Jr., Sandia Prep (Albuquerque, N.M.)
New York: Yvette Burcescu, 6-3, OH, Jr. Walter Panas (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.)
North Carolina: Taylor Rowland, 6-3, OH, Jr., Cox Mill (Concord, N.C.)
North Dakota: Regan Dennis, 6-0, OH, Sr., Century (Bismarck, N.D.)
Ohio: Shannon Williams, 5-8, S, Jr., Brecksville-Broadview Heights (Ohio)
Oklahoma: Alli Evans, 6-1, OH, Sr., Edmond (Okla.)
Oregon: Kathryn Decker, 6-4, OH-RS, Sr., Jesuit (Portland, Ore.)
Pennsylvania: Sam Graver, 5-10, OH, Sr., Parkland (Allentown, Pa.)
Rhode Island: Maile Somera, 5-9, OH, Soph., Barrington (R.I.)
South Carolina: Thayer Hall, 6-3, OH, Jr., Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.)
South Dakota: Sami Slaughter, 6-1, MB, Sr., Harrisburg (S.D.)
Tennessee: Logan Eggleston, 6-2, OH, Soph., Brentwood (Tenn.)
Texas: Kylee McLaughlin, 5-10, S, Sr., Hebron (Carrollton, Texas)
Utah: Dani Barton, 6-0, OH, Sr., Brighton (Cottonwood Heights, Utah)
Virginia: Abby Bottomley, 5-6, OH-DS, Sr., Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.)
Washington: Kennedy Croft, 5-10, OH, Jr., Tumwater (Wash.)
West Virginia: Tessa Wyner, 5-10, OH, Jr., George Washington (Charleston, W. Va.)
Wisconsin: Mariah Whalen, 6-1, OH, Sr., Newman Catholic (Wausau, Wis.)
Wyoming: Kalina Smith, 5-10, OH-S, Sr., Campbell County (Gillette, Wyo.)
