SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - The Lawrence Technological University (LTU) women's volleyball team opens the 2015 season at the Concordia University - Ann Arbor (Mich.) Early Bird Tournament on Friday, August 21.
Lawrence Tech returns senior Mary Armstrong, junior Josie Queary, and sophomore Alisha Stidam to a team that won a program best 18 matches last season, while winning eight Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) games.
The Blue Devils lost three key players from last year's team, Kasey Clark, Kelsey Haener, and Ashley Fields. Clark, LTU volleyball's first National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American Honorable Mention, departs as the all-time kill's leader in school history. Haener and Fields have traded their playing jerseys for coaching polo's as they are now assistants on the LTU volleyball team.
"We have a lot of kills to replace," said head coach Larry Wyatt. "But we look to improve greatly on our defense and serving to make some noise at the top half of the league in 2015."
Armstrong finished second on the team in kills last season (397), while finishing second in the WHAC in hitting percentage. In the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), she ranked 31st in hitting percentage. Coach Wyatt looks for Armstrong to have a great senior season.
Queary, a Midland, Mich. native, is the all-time LTU assists leader with 2,063 assist including a season best 1,396 assists in 2014. Queary finished last season ranked third in assists and assists per game (10.0) in the WHAC. She ranked 17th in total assists and 23rd in assists per game.
Stidam, from Barrie, Ont., Canada, played six rotations as a freshman, Wyatt believes Stidam is due to have a breakout year. Stidam finished the season with 199 kill, 26 service aces, 181 digs, and a .154 hitting percentage.
Joining these three are senior returners Jessica Frakes and Delaney Large. Frakes sat out last season, but finished 2013 with 158 kills, 25 total blocks, and 220 digs. Large has played in 20 matches in two season for the Blue Devils amassing 14 kills in 54 total attempts.
Juniors Taryn Rogers, Macee Logerstedt, and Kristin Johns add depth for the Blue Devils this season. Rogers finished her sophomore campaign with 23 matches played including 67 sets. Rogers finished with 16 service aces. Logerstedt added 55 assists and 13 kills in 23 matches. Johns played in five games over her first two seasons.
Sophomore Brittany Schmidt capped her freshman campaign with 56 kills, 23 service aces, and 17 total blocks. Briana Reum and Brenna Quinn, finished the 2014 season with a combined 39 blocks and 100 kills.
Coach Wyatt welcomes five freshman for the 2015 season - all state of Michigan products. Lexi Szymoniak, an Onaway, Mich. native, is having an outstanding pre-season according to Coach Wyatt and is expected to play right away. In high school, Szymoniak was a 2014 All-State First Team selection, 2013 All-State Second Team Selection, and a 2012 All-Region and All-District selection.
Leah Hall, a Kingsley, Mich. native, adds depth at the setter position after being a four year starter at Kingsley High School. Tori Pellerito, a freshman from Dakota, Mich., has had a lot of success in high school during her career and will fight for the libero spot this season.
Makenna Strunk comes to LTU from a winning program in Northville, Mich. Coach Wyatt say she has a strong arm swing with solid court movement skills. Alexis Snider, a setter from Lainsburg, Mich., will see a lot of action as Coach Wyatt continues to seek his best lineup options. Her solid skill set at all aspects of the game are going to be very beneficial to the team.
The Blue Devils open the Concordia - Ann Arbor Early Bird Tournament in pool play at 3 p.m. on Friday against Goshen College (Ind.) followed by a 5 p.m. match against Siena Heights University (Mich.).
Lawrence Tech continues the early season tournaments as they head to University of Michigan - Dearborn for the annual Early Bird Tournament in Dearborn, Mich. Following that tournament, the team heads to Pennsylvania for the Battle of the Boulevards Tournament before starting WHAC play in earnest on September 9 at home in the Don Ridler Field House.
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