Taube signs four for 2003 season

Antoine Bell, UAH Sports Information

UAH volleyball coach Laura Taube announced the signing of four players for the upcoming season. Two of the signees are from local high schools, while the other two hail from the state of Illinois.

Taube hopes to beef up on offense with the signing of hitters Kim Beesley and Kristen Wengert. Both players are local products, Beesley from Huntsville High and Wengert, Grissom.

Beesley is a 6'0" Outside/Middle Hitter. During her senior year, she was selected 1st team All-State, Super All-Metro MVP, Co-MVP of the city, and All-Area. She was also voted best defensive player and team MVP in 2002. As a junior, Beesley she was selected to the All-City second team. Her academic honors include being a Gold Card Recipient and the Bryant Jordan Scholar Athlete Award.

A 5'8" Outside Hitter, Wengert was a standout from Grissom High School in Huntsville. Kristen was named 1st Team All-State in her senior year. She was also Co-MVP of the City, All-Area, and to the Super All-Metro teams. Wengert was voted best offensive player, team Most Valuable Player, and was named All-tournament at the AL-TN Challenge in 2002. She is slated to play in the Alabama All-Star game in July.

During her junior year, Wengert was named second Team All-City, second team All-State and All-Metro Honorable Mention. Wengert's academic honors include volleyball academic honors, Foreign Language Honor Roll (German), Who's Who Among American High School Students, and Grissom Academic Excellence Awards.

With the graduation of Cathryn Sterling, the Lady Chargers will need some additional help on defense. Coach Taube signed 5'9 defensive specialist Katie Rohde from Reavis High School in Chicago, IL. Rohde was team captain during her senior year. She earned All-Conference honors and was honorable mention All-Area. In addition, she was special mention All-State, Lincoln Way Central All-Tournament Team, and 2002 Regional Champions.

In 2001, Rohde also was named to the All-Conference, All-Area and Special Mention All-State as well as several All-Tournament team selections. Rohde's academic awards include being on the Honor Roll and she received the United States Achievement Academy Award.

Rounding out the foursome is 5'7" setter Natalie Katsikas from Addison Trail High School in Addison, IL. Katsikas will hopefully fill the void left by Heather Grumke who left the program after her freshman season. Katsikas was also team captain during her senior season. She was also All-Conference, All-Area Press Publications, All-Area HM-DuPage Daily Herald and All-Tournament Team-Buffalo Grove.

Academically, Katsikas was an Illinois State Scholar, a member of the National Honor Society and Who's Who Among American High School Students.

Growing pains signature of 2002 season

Antoine Bell, UAH Sports Information

If no other lessons were learned in 2002, Coach Laura Taube learned that patience is definitely a virtue. Taube was already going into the season with one of her youngest teams ever. They got a lot younger when preseason All-GSC selection Melissa Feldmann was unable to lift her arm above her shoulder. The situation got worse when prized transfer Daniella Bragg was injured early in the season. Coach Taube was left with a starting lineup of four freshmen, two sophomores and senior libero Cathryn Sterling.

The Lady Chargers had to grow up fast. There would be some bumps and bruises along the way, but despite their 15-19 finish, the Lady Chargers tied for second place in the GSC East with a record of 11-5. There were several times during the season in which the Lady Chargers looked awesome. Then, sometimes inexperience reared its youthful head. Still, when all was said and done, the Lady Chargers had earned their share of honors.

Freshman hitter Emily Miller not only earned a spot on the Gulf South Conference first team, but she was named East Division Freshman of the Year. Sterling and sophomore hitter Kristian Kleminsky also earned spots on the All-GSC second team. In addition, Sterling earned a spot on the Verizon All-District first team. Sterling also left her mark in the Lady Charger record book. She set new UAH records for career dig average (3.44) and single season dig average (4.23). She also moved into second place all time in digs with 1,587.

It's those positives, along with several other shining moments during the season that the Lady Chargers have to build on for 2003.

Things got off to a rough start for the Lady Chargers. UAH won only two of their first eight matches. That included dropping three of four in the UAH Invitational at Spragins Hall. However, the Lady Chargers rebounded just in time to win their first two GSC matches, knocking off MUW (3-1) and West Georgia (3-0).

After a pair of non-conference losses to No. 14 Central Missouri State and Henderson State at home, the Lady Chargers won four straight GSC matches to improve to 6-0. The most impressive win in the streak was a comeback effort against Lincoln Memorial. The Railsplitters had UAH down 2-0, before the Lady Chargers stormed back to win the match 3-2. The Lady Chargers' 3-1 win over West Florida put UAH at .500 for the first time all year at 8-8.

The Lady Chargers' first conference setback came on the home floor against West Alabama. The Lady Tigers stormed into Spragins Hall and stunned the Lady Chargers 3-0. The loss started a rollercoaster ride for the Lady Chargers over the next two weeks. Two more losses were followed by two wins, then by four losses and three wins. When the coaster finally came to a rest after another win over West Georgia, the Lady Chargers were still in second place in the GSC East at 10-2.

Only two more wins and the Lady Chargers would clinch the No. 2 seed in the east in the GSC tournament. A loss to Lincoln Memorial on the road had the Lady Chargers suddenly against the wall with games against West Alabama and UNA remaining. Both teams had defeated UAH during the season, and those were at Spragins Hall.

The Lady Chargers tried to tune up for the stretch run with a 3-0 win over Christian Brothers. However, ninth ranked UNA and West Alabama both stamped 3-0 sweeps on the Lady Chargers. The back-to-back losses put West Alabama in the driver's seat for the No. 2 spot. And, despite a convincing Senior Day wipeout of Valdosta State, the Lady Chargers had to settle for third place after West Alabama came from behind to beat LMU in their season finale.

In the first round of the GSC tournament, the Lady Chargers ran into West Division No. 3 Henderson State. The two teams had splits a pair of matches during the season. In the rubber match, the more experienced Lady Reddies were too much for the young Lady Chargers. The season ended with a 3-0 loss for UAH.

As disappointing as the 2002 season may have seemed, the Lady Chargers have plenty to look forward to in 2003. The "youngsters" are no longer wet behind the ears. They had a chance to grow up. Considering all of the adversity, the Lady Chargers did well against the usually demanding schedule. With the addition of some quality recruits, the return of Feldmann and Bragg to the lineup, and a strong, experienced team coming back, the Lady Chargers should be back in the South Central Region hunt in 2003.

Final 2002 Statistics