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For Immediate Release 16 December 2002
Under the
direction of second-year Head Coach Mark Pryor, the Bearcats
finished with a 10-24 record and in ninth place in the MIAA
with a 1-15 mark. The young Southwest Baptist volleyball team,
which started three freshmen and a sophomore in addition to
a senior and a junior, rewrote several records in the SBU
volleyball record book. The 2002 volleyball squad won more
matches overall than in the previous two years combined, and
three wins shy of surpassing the overall win total of 12 that
was garnered in 1999 by former coach Cindy Rear in her first
season.
Devon Watts, a 6-1 freshman outside/middle from Somerville,
Texas, was ranked No. 6 in the MIAA in blocking with 1.07
blocks per game. In the blocking category, only two other
freshman were in the Top 10: Becky Haug of Central Missouri
State, the 2002 MIAA Freshman of the Year, was No. 5 with
1.13 blocks per game and Trista Kerr of Emporia State was
No. 10 with 0.93 blocks per game. Watts set a school record
for solo blocks in a match with seven solo blocks in a MIAA
home match against Emporia State on Nov. 8. The seven solo
blocks bested the previous record of six by Stephanie Middleton,
which was accomplished on Aug. 31, 1999 in Davison Field House
against John Brown University (Ark.) and at Washburn (Kan.)
on Nov. 14, 1998. Watts ended her freshman season with 78
solo blocks, leaving her seven solo blocks shy of breaking
the season record of 84 set in 1988 by Stephanie Bonham.
“This proves we can recruit quality student-athletes
that can compete in the MIAA,” Pryor said. “Devon's
net presence was crucial for team development and being competitive
against nationally-ranked opponents. Her blocking numbers
went up as the season progressed and she played better against
nationally-ranked teams. She will be shooting for the top
five next fall in blocks and will be a force the next couple
of years in the conference and region.”
Candace Zane, a 5-6 freshman setter from Highlands Ranch,
Colo., became No. 6 in the record book for career assists
with 1,185 and led the MIAA with 0.55 service aces per game
in her first season of collegiate volleyball. Only one other
freshman made the Top 10 in service aces. Kim Edwards of Emporia
State (Kan.) was third with 0.46 service aces per game. Zane
was eighth in the MIAA with 9.79 assists per game. One of
four freshmen to make the Top 10 in assists, Zane was joined
by Edwards at No. 1 with 12.05 assists per game, Missouri
Western's Therese Hand at No. 2 with 11.99 assists per game
and Kaci Young of Central Missouri State with 7.68 assists
per game. Zane finished with 1,185 assists and needed 83 additional
assists to break the season assists record of 1,267 set in
1998 by Melissa Capacete. Zane had a match-high eight aces
in a three-game win over Saint Mary College (Kan.) on Aug.
31, 2002. With two more aces, she would have broken the record
of nine service aces set in 1998 by Julie Gastel.
“Candace is on pace to break the career aces record and
possibly even double the record of 148 set by Julie Gastel,”
Pryor said. “Candace's service ace per game total could
have been higher if not for the tempo we play. Even though
the team had service errors, our mentality will always be
aggressive at the service line. Our aggressive nature helped
to dictate tempo and that outweighs the errors.”
Gastel, a former SBU player (1996-99) from Lamar and now an
assistant coach at Mid-America Nazarene (Kan.), is the record
holder in service aces with 83 in a season (1998) and 148
service aces in a career. Zane will also be looking to break
the assists in a career record of 2,748 set by Melissa Capacete
from 1997-99. The freshman currently has 1,185 assists and
needs 1,564 assists to move into sole possession of No. 1.
Keri Cochran, the lone senior to appear in more than 75 percent
of the matches for the Bearcats this season, reached several
career milestones this season during her four-year career.
Cochran became No. 4 in kills (835), No. 3 in attempts (2520),
No. 4 in digs (989) and No. 2 in service aces (113).
Monica Martinez, a 5-11 freshman outside hitter from Houston,
Texas, broke the single season kills record of 410 set by
Kaylie Otto in 1998. Martinez owns the record outright with
417 kills in her freshman campaign. She moved past the 59
attempts of both Sharla Goetze on Sept. 18, 1992 and Keri
Franklin-Matowski on Nov. 2, 1996 and became No. 1 in attempts
in a match (63) on Nov. 8 against Emporia State. She also
wrapped up No. 1 for attempts in a season with 1,259 surpassing
former Bearcat Morgan Ruble's 1,115 in 2000. The freshman
had a career high 28 kills in a match against Dillard (La.)
and was four kills away from breaking the match record of
31 set by Kelley Ross on Oct. 15, 1994.
“Monica obliterated almost every kill and attempt record
possible this season,” Pryor said. “She hit only
.185 for the year, however, from October through November,
her percentage rose from .160 to well into the .210 range.
As she got comfortable with the college game her numbers increased
dramatically. We are excited about the future that she will
help establish here.”
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