Maddie Owak

GOLDEN, Colo. -- The Lady Miner volleyball team dropped a pair of contests Friday on the first day of the Oredigger Volleyball Classic at Colorado School of Mines, falling to Western State 3-0 and Adams State 3-1.

UMR was involved in a close match with Western State to start the day, losing the three games by a total of seven points. The Mountaineers won the first game 30-27, then took the next two games 30-28 and 31-29.

Neither team had a lead of more than three points for most of the first game, with UMR building its biggest lead at 17-14 on a assisted block by Ashlyn Balensiefer and Samantha Klump. Western State took the lead for good at 23-22 in the midst of running off four straight points.

Western State led for the entire second game, but had to hold off a furious UMR rally at the end of the game. The Mountaineers led 29-24, but thanks to three straight kills by Lauren Summerville, the Lady Miners closed to within a point at 29-28. However, the run ended as did the game when WSU got a kill on the next point.

The Lady Miners then led for a good portion of game three, holding as much as a five-point advantage at one time. Western State caught up at 21, then it became a seesaw battle to the end. UMR went up 29-28 on Leandra Pelae's kill, but gave up the next three points to drop the match.

UMR had three players with at least 10 kills in the match, with Summerville leading the way with 11. Pelae and Maddie Owak posted 10 apiece, with Balensiefer posting 31 assists. Bridget Williams had 17 digs, while Balensiefer and Owak each had 10.

The Lady Miners then dropped the first two games of their match with Adams State by scores of 30-16 and 30-24 before taking game three 30-25. The Grizzlies were able to wrap up the match with a 30-19 win in the fourth game.

UMR never led in the first game and only held brief leads early in game two. But in the third game, UMR grabbed the lead in the midst of a 6-0 run and only trailed after that for two brief moments. Pelae's kill put the Lady Miners ahead for good at 17-16, then she finished the game with a service ace.

But after scoring the first point in the fourth game, Adams State scored seven of the next eight points to build a lead it wouldn't relinquish. UMR got as close as one at 8-7, but another Grizzly run of 12-5 allowed ASU to build its lead.

Pelae led UMR in the Adams State match with 10 kills, while Balensiefer had 27 assists and Williams had 20 digs.

UMR (0-6) will face Western New Mexico and Colorado School of Mines Saturday.

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Antonio Williams

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Miners’ venture into a game against NCAA Division I competition didn’t go anywhere near as well as they had hoped.

Missouri State scored on six of its nine first half possessions to build a huge lead and went on to beat UMR 62-17 Thursday night at Plaster Field in the first meeting between the old MIAA rivals since 1980.

The Bears set the tone early, bringing back the opening kickoff to the UMR 44 and scoring just 1:18 into play on a four-yard run by Gerald Davis.

UMR’s Jamel Anderson halted the Bears’ next possession with an interception, but after a three-and-out by the offense, MSU drove back down the field and went up 14-0 on Kingjack Washington’s six-yard scoring run.

Antonio Williams answered that score by bringing the ensuing kickoff back 94 yards for a touchdown, but the Miner defense continued to struggle to slow down MSU. The only other drives the Miners were able to halt over the balance of the first half came on an interception by Kalvin Bishop which was returned to the Bear seven and the final possession which ended when time ran out.

The Miners were unable to convert the Bishop interception or a later drive inside the Bear 10 into points, however, as both possessions ended with missed field goals.

MSU piled up 439 yards to the Miners’ 98 in the first 30 minutes of play to build the 41-7 lead.

After the Bears extended their lead midway through the second half on a long touchdown run by Davis, Williams got the Miner fans excited again by bringing the kickoff back out his own end zone back to the Bears’ 10. Tim Valencia got UMR back on the scoreboard again with a 22-yard field goal.

UMR got into the end zone again with 2:19 to play when Brad Guidry threw a four-yard scoring pass to Nathan Binder, extending a streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 30.

Guidry threw for 104 yards on the night, while Williams led the Miners on the ground with 40 yards and had 250 all-purpose yards thanks to 210 yards in kickoff returns.

The Miners (0-2) return to action Sept. 8 at home against Wisconsin-Stout. Game time will be 6:30 p.m. on Fort Leonard Wood Appreciation Night at UMR.

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The University of Missouri-Rolla soccer teams will host a youth clinic on Saturday, Sept. 8 at the UMR Soccer Field.

The teams will hold the first clinic for children ages 6-12 from 9-10 a.m. on Sept. 8. Players from both the men's and women's soccer teams will provide the instruction at the clinics, which are free of charge.

Participants in the clinics will need to bring a ball, shin guards, a water bottle and a liability release form which is available at the link below.

Liability form for soccer clinic

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Brad Guidry

University of Missouri-Rolla junior quarterback Brad Guidry made his first start as a Miner Saturday night and was awarded for a performance in which he completed 32-of-47 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns.

Guidry was named as the "Offensive Player of the Week" by D2Football.com for the Division II independents group for the opening week of the season. The 345 yards he compiled against Truman State Saturday were the third-most ever by a Miner quarterback in his first game with the team.

Guidry had scoring passes of six and four yards to Nathan Binder and a 17-yard scoring pass to David Shields which allowed the Miners to overcome a 21-point deficit to tie the game at 31; Truman State eventually pulled out a 38-31 victory. In addition he ran for 49 yards to finish with a total of 394 yards of total offense.

A native of Rusk, Texas, Guidry transferred to UMR from Blinn Junior College.

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Ashton Gronewold

Ashton Gronewold made the UMR record book for the 20th time on Saturday -- and on Monday, he earned the Great Lakes Football Conference's first weekly award of the season.

Gronewold, the Miners' All-America wide receiver, was named as the GLFC's "Offensive Player of the Week" after a game in which he accumulated 289 all-purpose yards although UMR was on the short end of a 38-31 decision against Truman State Saturday night.

In the process, he broke the UMR career mark for all-purpose yards as he surpassed the 4,000-yard mark; his total stands at 4,031 after Saturday's play. He posted his first 100-yard rushing game of his career with 102 yards on five carries, while catching a game-high nine passes for 84 yards.

In addition, he also had 103 yards in kick returns in the game, including a kickoff runback into Truman State territory to set up a score, as he finished with his second-highest total of all-purpose yards in a game in his career. He had 294 yards against Saint Joseph's last season.

The GLFC awarded its defensive award to Tiffin's Parris Burt.

UMR will return to action Thursday when it plays Missouri State in Springfield, Mo., at 7 p.m.

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The University of Missouri-Rolla made a large jump in the new National Collegiate Scouting Association rankings, as the UMR athletics program ranks 13th among NCAA Division II institutions in its 2007 rankings that came out Monday.

The NCSA rankings, which rate colleges and universites based on their student-athlete graduation rates, academic strength and athletic success. More than 260 institutions compete at the NCAA Division II level.

The rankings are calculated for each college and university at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels by averaging the U.S. News & World Report ranking, the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup ranking and the NCAA student-athlete graduation rate of each college/university.

The collegiate power rankings based off of the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup rating evaluates the strength of NCAA athletic departments, while the U.S. News and World Report rating recognizes institutions of academic excellence. The student-athlete graduation rates are based on those provided by the NCAA.

The top-ranked school in this year's rankings is the University of California-San Diego, which was the top ranked school in the U.S. News rankings and tied for the top spot with several schools for its graduation rate.

UMR was the second-highest ranked school among the Great Lakes Valley Conference schools behind Drury University; nine other GLVC schools were ranked among the top 100. The others were Wisconsin-Parkside (18th), Indianapolis (tied for 26th), Lewis (28th), Bellarmine (50th), Quincy (55th), Southern Illinois Edwardsville (65th), Rockhurst (80th), Northern Kentucky (84th) and Missouri-St. Louis (85th).

In addition to the collegiate power rankings, NCSA is also providing recruiting education to high school athletic directors, coaches and families of student-athletes who are interested in competing at the next level.

Click here for the NCAA Division II top 100 list

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Rachel Moore

The Lady Miners may have started out sluggish Sunday afternoon, but a strong finish netted them their first victory of the 2007 season.

Rachel Moore scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:17 remaining in the second half to give UMR a 2-1 win over Missouri Western at the UMR Soccer Field. The victory allowed UMR to even its record after it lost its season opener to Ashland Friday night.

Following a scoreless first half -- one where the Griffons had the better of play over the final 15 minutes -- the visitors got on the board after a Lady Miner mistake in the opening minutes of the second half.

UMR was called for a foul for a passback to the goalkeeper and on the ensuing free kick, the ball got to Meigan Soo in a crowd and she put it past Kelsey Kurilla to put the Griffons on top. The goal, however, got the Lady Miners ignited and they tied the score a little over 11 minutes later.

Marci Byrd's shot from the wing caromed off the crossbar, but Janine Einhellig was right there to head it in to knot the score with over 30 minutes remaining.

UMR started to gain control of the tempo and eventually got the game winning tally in the latter minutes.

A Lady Miner free kick was cleared out of the box by the Griffons but right out to Moore, who hammered a shot into the upper right corner to put UMR in front. The Lady Miners, who outshot the Griffons 23-10 in the game and 13-5 in the second half, did not allow Western a scoring chance once they got the lead.

Catherine Swift and Kurilla combined for five saves in the game while the Lady Miners got 13 of their 23 shots on goal.

UMR will play a pair of games over the Labor Day weekend at Drury University in Springfield, starting with a Saturday contest against Oakland City at noon.

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Ashton Gronewold

After rallying from a 21-point deficit to draw even with Truman State in its season opener, the Miners couldn't hold off the Bulldogs on a fourth down play early in the fourth quarter and then saw its last-ditch effort come up five yards short and fell 38-31 Saturday night at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

Truman built a 31-10 lead late in the first half, but the Miners rattled off 21 unanswered points to tie the game in the latter stages of the third quarter. But faced with a fourth-and-six at the UMR 36 early i the fourth quarter, Truman quarterback Matt Ticich connected with Tyler Fenton down the middle for the tiebreaking score that proved to be decisive.

The win spoiled big nights by the Miners' Ashton Gronewold and Brad Guidry, who was making his Miner debut at quarterback. Guidry completed 32-of-47 passes for 345 yards and three scores, while Gronewold posted his second-highest all-purpose yardage total of his career with 289 yards in the game, which included 102 yards rushing.

After the Bulldogs took the lead in the first two minutes of the game on Ticich's 17-yard touchdown pass to Ryan King -- following a game-opening 59-yard kickoff return by Phil Kenney -- the Miners answered right back. Gronewold broke the UMR career record for all-purpose the first time he touched the ball, then busted off a 57-yard run on an option play on the Miners' first play from scrimmage to move them deep into Truman territory.

UMR had to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Tim Valencia, then Truman extended its lead when Ticich ran in from 12 yards on the Bulldogs' next trip down the field.

The Miners got their initial touchdown of the season to cap a 10-play, 68-yard drive. Gronewold caught a pass on fourth down to keep the drive going, then Guidry hit Nathan Binder for a six-yard scoring pass three plays later to cut the lead to 14-10.

Truman rattled off 17 straight points to go up 31-10 with 17 seconds left in the half, but Gronewold ran the ensuing kickoff back to the Bulldogs' 44 to give the Miners a shot. Guidry completed a pass to a sliding Binder at the Truman four with two seconds to go, then hit him again in the end zone on the final play of the first half.

The Miners got the ball to open the second half, but after the initial drive ended in a three-and-out, the Miners caught a break when Albert Coker fumbled the ball on the punt return to give it back to UMR at Truman's 36.

Guidry threw an interception on the very next play by Garret Feig -- who had earlier halted a Miner scoring chance with a pick in the end zone -- but Jake Cunningham fumbled the ball right back to UMR on the play that followed.

The Miners cashed that chance in when Jerome Miller plowed in from four yards out to make it 31-23 after Valencia missed the extra point.

After the defense forced the Bulldogs to give up the ball on downs at the UMR 19, Guidry guided a scoring drive where he completed all five of his passes. The final completion of 17 yards to David Shields drew the Miners to within two, then Guidry hit Rolla High product Jake Drallmeier for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 31.

UMR then forced Truman into a fourth down situation outside of field goal range, but Ticich got his pass away before the pass rush arrived and hit Fenton for the go-ahead score 12 seconds into the fourth quarter.

The Miners' next two drives ended with punts, then they got one last shot with 1:39 to go from their own 18. UMR got into Truman territory on a completion to Antonio Williams, then reached the Bulldog 25 with nine seconds to play when Guidry hit Mike Greaving on a sideline route.

After an incompletion, Guidry completed a pass to Gronewold, who first tried to elude the Truman defenders guarding the goal line and then attempted a lateral, only to see the ball get recovered by TSU's Brandon Crawford as time expired.

UMR racked up 510 yards of total offense to Truman's 457 in the contest, getting 165 on the ground and 345 through the air. Guidry completed passes to eight different receivers, with Shields catching five balls and Binder and Williams getting four apiece.

The Bulldogs ran for 306 yards against the Miners with Ticich and Cunningham both finishing with over 100 yards.

The Miners will return to the field Thursday night in Springfield when they take on another old rival from their days in the MIAA, Missouri State. Game time will be at 7 p.m.

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Leandra Pelae

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The UMR volleyball team fell just short of earning its first victory of the 2007 season, but dropped the decisive fifth game in its final match of the Christian Brothers Tournament.

After dropping a 3-0 game to the host school to open the day, UMR rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth game against Belhaven but dropped that contest 15-9 in the eventual 3-2 loss.

Belhaven took the first two games by scores of 30-25 and 30-28, but UMR came back to win game three 30-25 and the fourth game 30-23 to draw even. UMR had strong attack numbers in the two games, posting a 26 percent attack percentage in the third game and a 29 percent mark in game four.

However, seven attack errors in the final game doomed the Lady Miners, who got 24 kills from Leandra Pelae and 46 assists from Ashlyn Balensiefer, both season highs.

UMR had 79 digs in the Belhaven match, 25 of which came from Bridget Williams.

Earlier in the day, the Lady Miners dropped the first game to Christian Brothers 30-18, then lost a pair of 31-29 games to the Buccaneers.

In the second game, UMR held as much as a three-point lead in the nip-and-tuck match, then tied the score at 29 on a kill by Samantha Klump. CBU got the next two points, however, to win that game and then won the final game in similar fashion.

The Lady Miners led 15-12 in the early stages, but hung with the Buccaneers all the way to the end. Maddie Owak's kill tied the game at 29 before the Buccaneers won the contest.

UMR will head to Colorado over the Labor Day weekend to take part in a tournament at Colorado School of Mines.

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Andy Held

Andy Held started out the 2007 soccer season by picking up where he left off last fall.

Held headed in a pair of free kicks Saturday afternoon to provide all the scoring as the Miners opened their season with a 2-0 victory over Ashland at the UMR Soccer Field.

Held, who led the Miners with 11 goals in 2006, got UMR on the board at the 16:50 mark when he got a head on a free kick by freshman Daniel Stokes and redirected it by goalkeeper Blaize Lishewski.

That would be the only goal the Miners would score in the first 45 minutes, despite holding an edge in play for the most part and outshooting the Eagles 10-4.

At the 65:11 mark, Ashland’s Max Hiltner was given a red card for a flagrant foul just outside the penalty area and the Miners made the Eagles pay just three seconds later. Brandon Moore’s serve into the box got to Held and he put it away by reserve keeper Ryan Cruise to extend the lead.

The Miner defense took care of the rest, allowing only four shots to reach goalkeeper Mike McNamee as the senior goalkeeper recorded his 13th career shutout, one shy of the UMR all-time record.

UMR outshot the Eagles 17-9 for the game.

The Miners will play two games in Kirksville over the Labor Day weekend, starting with a contest next Saturday against Missouri Southern.

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Ashlyn Balensiefer

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- UMR got its inaugural volleyball season started Friday, but not quite in the fashion that it had hoped in the Christian Brothers Tournament.

After falling earlier in the day to Harding in three games, the Lady Miners fell in four games to Ouachita Baptist in a 3-1 decision after UMR held a 1-0 lead after a 30-22 opening game win.

The Lady Miners claimed their first game of the season by using a strong mid-game run to assume control. After falling behind 3-1 early in the match, UMR scored four straight points to go in front. Then up 12-9, UMR ran off 14 of the next 20 points to go up 26-15.

Ouachita Baptist closed to within seven, but the Lady Miners finished the game off when Leandra Pelae posted one of her game-high 16 kills off an assist from Ashlyn Balensiefer, who had 31 in the four games.

UMR had only one lead -- of 1-0 -- in the second game that the Tigers won 30-17, then dropped a heartbreaker in game three as OBU pulled out a 31-29 victory.

The Lady Miners had as much as an eight-point lead in that game and had game point at 29-26, but allowed the Tigers to score five straight points to take the match. The final game was similar to game two, where UMR had only one early lead in a game OBU would win by a 30-21 count.

UMR also got nine kills from Lynsey Jorgensen -- who had a .471 attack percentage in the match -- and Katie Herington. Bridget Williams led the Lady Miners with 24 digs.

Harding sweeps past Lady Miners in opener

The Lady Miners ran into a difficult opponent in their first venture on the volleyball court Friday, dropping a 3-0 decision three-game decision to Harding in the Christian Brothers Tournament.

The Bisons, who are the pre-season favorites in the Gulf South Conference's West Division, swept the three games by scores of 30-19, 30-15 and 30-13.

UMR fell behind 6-1 in the first game, but rattled off five straight points and tied the game on an assisted block by Leandra Pelae and Samantha Klump. However, Harding scored the next three points to take the lead for good, although UMR did close to within a point at 15-14.

In the second game, the Lady Miners scored four straight points early in the contest to take their first lead of the afternoon, moving in front 6-5 on a kill by Ashlyn Balensiefer. A kill by Pelae on the next point extended the lead to two before the Bisons tied the score at seven. UMR regained the lead momentarily after a Harding service error and was even at nine after a kill by Balensiefer, but Harding outscored the Lady Miners 14-2 to close the game.

Harding never trailed in the third game, scoring nine of the first 13 points to take the early advantage. UMR closed to margin to three at 11-8 on a kill by Jessica Laughary, but the Lady Miners managed only five more points from there.

UMR got six kills from Maddie Owak and five from Pelae in the contest, while Balensiefer, who had a kill percentage of 40 percent in the game, finished with 20 assists. Bridget Williams had nine digs and Annie Smith finished with seven.

UMR will return to action Saturday against Christian Brothers and Belhaven.

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Melia Miller

The start of the 2007 season for the Lady Miners was delayed by rain, then a late rally effort fell short for UMR as it dropped a 3-1 decision Friday to Ashland at the UMR Soccer Field.

Severe thunderstorms that dropped nearly two inches of rain in the Rolla area Friday afternoon held up the start of the game for two hours, but the Lady Miners had a solid first half of play as they outshot the Eagles 10-9 and had a couple of good scoring opportunites.

However, it was Ashland's Beth Moor who came up with the only goal in the first 45 minutes as she took a cross from Courtney Schuster and put it past Kelsey Kurilla to give the Eagles a 1-0 halftime lead.

The game stayed that way well into the second half, which was played in a steady rain, until Kelly Usher pounced on a rebound of her own shot that was stopped by UMR goalkeeper Catherine Swift (who entered the contest at the start of the second half) and scored with just under 15 minutes to play to extend the lead.

UMR cut that lead in half thanks to a great individual effort by freshman midfielder Melia Miller. She took a feed from Brooke Ryan and dribbled past two Eagles to get free for a shot, which she hit past Marie Supanich with 6:01 to go.

But after making a brief surge in an effort to tie the game, the Eagles were able to put the game away when Dani Lamb got to a ball that got by Swift near the front of the penalty area and scored into an open net for the final score.

The Lady Miners outshot the Eagles 17-16 in the game. Kurilla and Swift combined to make eight saves on the nght.

UMR will host Missouri Western (0-1) Sunday at 2 p.m. The men's game between UMR and Ashland that was slated for Friday night was moved to Saturday at 1 p.m. at the UMR Soccer Field.

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Five members of the University of Missouri-Rolla football team have been named to a pre-season all-independent team for NCAA Division II by D2Football.com.

One of the five, senior wide receiver Ashton Gronewold, was a pre-season All-America selection as announced by the website that covers football at the Division II level. Gronewold, who holds or shares 19 school records at UMR, was named to the first team at both wide receiver and as a kick returner.

He had a school record 78 receptions for 1,120 yards and 15 touchdowns last season and scored two more touchdowns on returns. His 1,788 all-purpose yards also set a single-season record.

Also named to the first team was junior free safety Brian Jordan, who finished the 2006 season tied for the team lead with three interceptions to go along with his 61 tackles.

Three others were named to the second team -- wide receiver Mike Greaving, linebacker Justin Butler and placekicker Tim Valencia.

Greaving caught 50 passes for 789 yards and five touchdowns last season, while Butler is the Miners' leading returning tackler with 73 stops a year ago. Valencia connected on 42 of his 44 extra points attempts and also made eight of his 11 field goal tries.

The Miners open their 2007 season Saturday night against Truman State at Allgood-Bailey Stadium. Game time is at 6:30 p.m.

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The University of Missouri-Rolla will open its 2007 football season Saturday and fans coming to the 6:30 p.m. game at Allgood-Bailey Stadium will have a pair of additional things to look forward to besides the football game.

The first 300 fans in attendance wearing UMR apparel to the game against Truman State will receive a rally towel, courtesy of UMR Corporate Club sponsor Taco Bell which is the game sponsor for Saturday’s game.

In addition, there will be a fireworks display at the stadium during the halftime intermission, which will be put on by the UMR Department of Rock Mechanics and Explosives Engineering and sponsored by the UMR Corporate Club.

Tickets for the game are $8 for reserved seats and $5 for general admission. UMR students will receive free admission with a valid student I.D. Season tickets for the 2007 season are also on sale in the UMR athletics office.

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Thomas McCormick

Thomas McCormick, an outfielder for the Miner baseball team, was named as the recipient of the Mike Schmidt most valuable player award for the 2007 season as a member of the Quincy Gems of the Central Illinois Collegiate League.

The award completed a sweep for McCormick of the league’s awards for the 2007 season, as he was named as the most valuable player in both the first and second halves of the season as well as to the league’s all-star team as an outfielder in the wood bat league.

McCormick led the CICL in all three triple crown categories, finishing with a .337 average, nine home runs and 40 runs batted in. He also headed the league in slugging percentage at .542, hits with 64, runs scored with 41 and total bases with 103. He had 20 of his 64 hits go for extra bases.

The outfielder will be a junior at UMR next spring; he batted .286 with a team-high 20 runs batted in during the Miners' 2007 campaign.

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Maddie Owak

ROLLA, Mo. – The day is almost here.

The inaugural season of volleyball at the University of Missouri-Rolla is right around the corner and fans will get their first opportunity to see the team Monday night when the Lady Miners will hold their Silver and Gold intrasquad scrimmage at the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

The scrimmage will start at 7 p.m. and will be free of charge to the public. The team will also be available for autographs following the event.

Head coach Jason Holt, who has spent the last year putting together the squad, is more than ready to see the Lady Miners get into game action.

“Each of the players within the program knows how great of an opportunity this is to be a part of,” Holt said. “They have all worked very hard this past summer preparing to put this new program on the volleyball map.”

A total of 17 players are on the first Lady Miner roster, 14 of whom are freshmen in eligibility. But while the team may be youthful in its makeup, there is plenty of talent in that group which has made for a spirited pre-season as everyone has been trying to make an impression to earn roles on the team.

“With everyone on the roster being new, we will have a lot of competition for playing time at every position this year,” Holt said. “That will help us take the first steps in the right direction for this new and exciting program.”

The Lady Miners have three liberos and defensive specialists on the roster. Stephanie Harman (Carl Junction, Mo.), a junior who made the team through a tryout session last fall, heads up a group that will also feature freshmen Annie Smith (Florissant, Mo./Incarnate Word) and Bridget Williams (Topeka, Kan./Hayden).

UMR also has three setters in the fold this fall in redshirt freshman Tory Smiley (Springfield, Mo./Glendale) and incoming freshmen Ashlyn Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) and Lisa Bradley (Littleton, Colo./Columbine).

The deepest position for the Lady Miners this season is at middle hitter, where five players – all of whom stand six feet or above – are competing for playing time.

Lynsey Jorgenson (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh), a sophomore who will be the Lady Miners’ captain this season, joins four freshmen in the competition for time at that spot. A pair of 6-1 players, Hope Mooberry (Morton, Ill.) and Samantha Klump (Ash Grove, Mo.), will contend for spots along with Katie Herington (Kalona, Iowa/Mid-Prairie) and Kaci Herron (Jonesboro, Ark.), a duo that garnered numerous honors at the high school level.

The last of the players who were on campus last year, sophomore Lisa Robinson (Lake Charles, La./St. Louis Catholic), is among the four outside hitters on the roster. Freshmen Leandra Pelae (Dunlap, Ill.), Jessica Laughary (Wheaton, Mo.) and Kit Spears (Valley Center, Kan.) are also expected to compete for time at that role.

On the opposite side, freshmen Lauren Summerville (Fenton, Mo./Rockwood Summit) and Maddie Owak (Tinley Park, Ill./Chicago Christian) will contend for the right side hitter position.

UMR’s first regular season match is scheduled for August 24 as it will take part in the Christian Brothers Classic. The Lady Miners will play four games in that event, four more over Labor Day weekend in a tournament at Colorado School of Mines and a match at Washburn before their home opening weekend.

The Lady Miners will start the home slate Sept. 7 against Drury and Sept. 8 against Rockhurst.

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Season tickets for athletic events at the University of Missouri-Rolla have gone on sale for the upcoming 2007-08 season.

An all sports ticket, which will emcompass six sports this season, is $85 for a reserved seat and $80 for a general admission seat. A general admission ticket for students and senior citizens can be purchased for $55.

This year's season ticket package also includes the inaugural season of volleyball at UMR, with a reserved season ticket being available for $50. General admission tickets will run for $45 on a season basis, while students and senior citizens can buy a ticket for the 12 home matches for $30.

UMR's first home volleyball games take place Sept. 7 against Drury and Sept. 8 against Rockhurst.

Football season tickets are $35 this season for reserved seats, $30 for general admission and $20 for students and senior citizens. UMR will have five home football game this fall, starting with the August 25 season opener against Truman State at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

Season tickets for men's and women's basketball games are $60 for reserved seats, $55 for general admission and $35 for students and senior citizens for the season that will begin in November.

For men's and women's soccer games, season tickets are available for $30 for the general public and $20 for students and senior citizens. Both UMR soccer teams will open their season at home on August 24 against Ashland University.

UMR faculty and staff can also purchase season tickets at discounted rates, with an all-sports general admission ticket being available for $75. Football tickets cost $25 for a general admission seat, while volleyball will run $40, basketball for $50 and soccer for $25.

Payment for season tickets can be done by cash, check or credit card. Season ticket forms are available at the university's athletics office in the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Posted by John Kean at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The University of Missouri-Rolla has filled its vacancy within the men’s basketball coaching staff by naming Jim Glash as the new assistant coach.

Glash comes to UMR from Olney Central College, where he served as the head coach for nine seasons. He left the program following the 2004-05 season after winning 160 games at the college, the most by any coach in school history.

“This is a tremendous institution that competes in an outstanding league and I am looking forward to the challenge here at UMR,” Glash said. “I hope that with my background that I can help attract those student-athletes who can compete in this conference and get a great education.”

“I’ve known Jim for a number of years and believe that he will be a great addition to our program,” said Miner head coach Dale Martin. “Jim has a proven track record not only as a recruiter as many of his players have gone on to play at the Division I and Division II levels, but also in his commitment to academics.

“The student-athletes in his program graduated at an impressive rate and he knows the type of players you need to be successful in the Great Lakes Valley Conference,” Martin said.

"I am pleased to have Jim joining our outstanding coaching staff at UMR," said UMR director of athletics Mark Mullin. "We are fortunate to have someone with Jim's experience. He will be an excellent representative for Miner athletics. I am confident he will make an immediate and positive impact on our program."

Glash helped turn around a program at Olney Central that had finished in the lower half of the Great Rivers Athletic Conference in nine of the previous 11 years, leading it to an outright league title in 1999-00 after sharing the league title the year prior to that. The 1999-00 squad that claimed the conference title helped Glash land the league’s “Coach of the Year” award.

During his tenure, 11 Blue Knight players earned all-conference honors and 11 were named to the All-Region 24 team. The school’s first two All-America players also came through the school during that time.

Before his stint at OCC, where his teams finished in the top half of the conference in eight of the nine years he was there, Glash served as a coach at both the junior college and four-year level. He served on the staffs at the University of Illinois-Chicago for four seasons and at North Park College in Illinois for one year when that school won the Division III national championship.

Glash also spent time at Kennedy-King College in the Chicago area and at Columbia College in California.

In the time he spent at Olney Central, Glash’s players graduated at a 93 percent rate and 39 of his players went on to earn scholarships at other four-year institutions, including seven who played at schools in the GLVC.

Posted by John Kean at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)