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Taube signs four for 2002 season

Antoine Bell, UAH Sports Information

Coach Laura Taube lost some important offensive weapons to graduation. In an effort to fill in the blanks, Taube has inked four talented athletes that she hopes can keep the Lady Chargers' winning tradition going.

The Chargers lost a high percentage of offense with the graduation of All-American Ellen LaFiore and seniors Lindsay Dunham and Erin Denny. Coach Taube signed three hitters, Bethany Holder, Emily Miller and Daniella Bragg, to help reload the UAH front line. Also, with the loss of senior setter Jane Baumgartner, Taube signed 5'6" setter Heather Grumke from Bridgeton, MO.

Grumke is a graduate of Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Missouri, where her volleyball team ended the 2001 season with a record of 30-6 and were Suburban North Conference Runner-up. The team also was District 7 Champion for 4A (Missouri's largest class), Sectional Winner and Elite 8 Qualifier for 4A State Tournament.

Grumke received several honors during her senior year including 1st Team Suburban North All-Conference Team, 1st team All-District, St. Louis All Metro Team Honorable Mention, and she was Team Co-Captain and Most Valuable Player. She plays club volleyball with the Missouri-Illinois Volleyball Academy.

Grumke is also active in school and community activities including playing soccer for four years. She is a member of the Administrative Action Council, a Special Olympics volunteer, Yearbook Staff, Academic Honor Roll and she received the Scholar Activity Award for Academic Excellence in the Fall of 2000.

Holder is a graduate of Boonville High School in Boonville, Indiana. The 6'0" middle hitter helped lead her team to a 22-12 finish in her senior season. The only senior on the 2001 team, Holder led in all statistical categories. She was named to the Big 8 All-Conference team, 2nd team All-State, team MVP for three years, and team captain for three years Holder was academic honorable mention in 2001. She has also been a member of the National Honor Society for two years and Who's Who Among American High School Students for four years.

Miller is a graduate of McGill Toolen High School in Mobile, Alabama. The 5'11" outside hitter led her team to a record of 63-2 and a 6A State Championship in 2001. She was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Alabama, 6A State Most Valuable Player, All-State, 6A Regional and Area All-Tournament Teams and Mobile Register Super 12. Miller was named also named Alabama Player of the Week once and Kiwanis Club Player of the Week.

She has received two Scholar Athlete awards, the Wendy's High School Heisman Award and the Bryant-Jordan Award. In her junior year Emily's team also won the state championship and ended their season with a record of 63-3.

Bragg, a 5'10" outside hitter from Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce, Florida. In her freshman year at IRCC, she was named to the All-Conference Team and in three tournaments, received Most Outstanding Player awards. During her sophomore year, this past season, she was named Athlete of the Month for September, All-Conference, All-State and was nominated for All-American.

2001 Season has tough ending, but still successful
Antoine Bell, UAH Sports Information

The 2001 season didn't end the way Coach Laura Taube and her Lady Chargers had hoped. However, it doesn't erase the accomplishments of the year.

The Lady Chargers finished the regular season at 28-9 and ranked 20th in the nation. In 2001, the Lady Chargers were ranked as high as 14th in the AVCA Division II poll and remained in the top 25 the entire season.

Individually, four Lady Chargers earned post season honors. Middle blocker Ellen LaFiore finished a stellar career at UAH by earning spots on the All-GSC first team, All-GSC tournament team, Verizon Academic All-District team, All-South Central Region first team and second team Daktronics All-South Central Region.

During the 2001 season, LaFiore was named GSC Offensive Player of the Week twice. She also leaves UAH holding the career records for most kills, kill average, attacks and attack percentage.

Two other seniors, setter Jane Baumgartner and hitter Lindsay Dunham both made 2nd team All-GSC for the first time Baumgartner also set a pair of UAH marks in 2001. She set the records for assists and assist average.

Both LaFiore and Baumgartner have left their marks in the GSC record books.

The only returning member of the foursome is sophomore hitter Melissa Feldmann. During the season, she earned GSC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

The Lady Chargers rolled out of the gates winning their first six matches at the University of Tampa and UNA/Ramada Inn Classics. Those included wins over No. 5 Tampa and No. 22 North Florida.

Their first setback also came in the UNA Classic, falling to fourth ranked South Dakota State.

The schedule didn't get any easier for the Lady Chargers on their next road venture. UAH faced two more top 25 teams in the Central Missouri State Jennies Classic. The Lady Chargers came up empty against both No. 22 Rockhurst and the 24th ranked Jennies. The Lady Chargers did however salvage a pair of victories against Washburn and Wisconsin-Parkside to bring home a 8-3 record.

After the long, long road trip, the Lady Chargers returned home to open the GSC schedule. After sweeping both West Florida and Valdosta State, UAH was stunned by Montevallo at Spragins Hall in a five game classic.

The Lady Chargers rebounded to beat MUW at home and Lincoln Memorial on the road. But, rival North Alabama put up a purple wall in front of the Lady Chargers, leaving Spragins Hall with a dominant 3-0 sweep.

After being whipped on their home floor, the Lady Chargers had to go away again, back to Missouri. The Lady Chargers played a pair of brutal 5-game battles.

In the first game, UAH outlasted Missouri Western State 3-2 in a match that lasted 2 1/2 hours. Then, the Lady Chargers had to pull it together to face No. 2 Truman State. UAH came out fired up, taking the first two games en route to a possible upset. But, the Lady Chargers ran out of gas and the Lady Bulldogs came back to win the next three games.

The road left the Lady Chargers dented, but not beaten. The Lady Chargers (13-6) returned to the comfort of Spragins Hall and began a 9-game winning streak with a convincing sweep of West Georgia. During the streak, the Lady Chargers locked up a spot in the GSC tournament while building a 9-2 conference record.

As usual, just when things got hot for UAH, along came another meeting with UNA. It didn't go well for the Lady Chargers in the tough hour and 20 minutes. The 3-0 loss left UAH with a 22-7 record, but it didn't knock the Lady Chargers out of the national poll. More importantly, the Lady Chargers remained strong in the South Central Region rankings.

The Lady Chargers rebounded from the loss to UNA by winning their last five regular season matches and carrying a 27-7 record into the GSC tournament.

At the GSC tournament in Arkadelphia, AR, the Lady Chargers advanced to the semifinals with an efficient win over Arkansas Tech in the first round.

For all of their efforts, the Lady Chargers were rewarded with another match against UNA. Unlike the first two meetings, the Lady Chargers fired all they had at the 3-time defending champions. In fact, UAH held large leads in two of the games in the match. However, the Lady Chargers couldn't close the deal. Given the opportunity, UNA came roaring back to eliminate the Lady Chargers 30-24, 31-29, 30-26.

Despite the loss in the GSC tournament, the Lady Chargers still earned a spot in the South Central Regional in Kirksville, MO.

In the first round of the regional, UAH faced Henderson State. During the season the Lady Chargers downed the Lady Reddies twice, once in Henderson State's invitational tournament.

Early in the match, Henderson State came out fired up. The Lady Reddies won the first game 30-24. But, the Lady Chargers won the next two games 30-24 and 30-25. Needing only one more victory to advance to the region semifinal, the Lady Chargers' light went out.

The Lady Reddies took game four 30-22. Then in the final game, the score was close right up to the end. Trailing 14-13, the Lady Chargers had the serve and a chance to tie. But, a service error ended the 2001 season.

Final 2001 Statistics