Jan. 9, 2001

For head coach Darin Weber, the future of the University of South Dakota women's volleyball team lies in the sturdiness of the program's foundation. While there are still building blocks to place into the programs' structure, it is taking shape and with good early results.

While a 10-25 mark may not make many coaches happy, at least Weber sees a very positive feeling with the program. Players began to learn the difficulties of winning and the easiness of losing. In this season, the Coyotes became competitive with every team on its schedule. While there is definite room for improvement, time and persistence may change the flavor of other's perspective with regard to USD volleyball.

It was a good season for volleyball in respect to what has happened in the past. Some important accomplishments:
* Broke 47-match North Central Conference losing streak on the road against St. Cloud State. The Coyotes won the match 15-12, 12-15, 17-15, 7-15, 15-7.
* Won a home NCC match. That, too, came against St. Cloud State by a 15-9, 16-14, 15-11 score.
* Won 10 matches in a season for the first time since 1988.
* Had a player named honorable mention all-NCC. Conference coaches tapped redshirt freshman Sarah Vollertsen.
* Angie Bjorkman was named honorable mention all-NCC.

How much did the Coyotes improve? Substantially. But as Weber noted before the season began, success is not always measured in the number of victories. During this season, several Coyotes moved into the record book. Here is a breakdown:
Attack Attempts, Career: Amber Abrams, 7th, 1,602
Kills, Career: Abrams, 5th, 560
Set Assists, Career: Angela Golesh, 5th, 825, Katie Wancho, 6th, 673
Solo Blocks, Career: Vollertsen, tie 6th (Laurie York), 59
Attack Attempts, Season: Abrams, 1st, 1,089, Vollertsen, 3rd, 1,055, Becky Olson, 10th, 882
Kills, Season: Vollertsen, 1st, 427, Abrams, 3rd, 370, Olson, tie 8th (Nikki Daggitt), 323
Hitting Percentage, Season: Vollertsen, 3rd, .292
Set Assists, Season: Golesh, 7th, 825
Solo Blocks, Season: Vollertsen, 2nd, 59
Total Blocks, Season: Vollertsen, 2nd, 159, Nicole Johnson, 8th, 118, Olson, 10th, 91
Digs, Season: Leslie Fusinato, 4th, 449

Several team records were also broke during the season. Here is a breakdown:
Kills, Season: 1,640
Kills Per Game, Season: 12.91
Hitting Percentage, Season: .199
Assists Per Game, Season: 11.27