Lady Eagles Volleyball improve, with spirit

By Kresney Facin

The Green Mountain Woman’s Volleyball team is 1-4 so far this season. The team has a lot of new players and they are showing improvement every game. The head coach this year is Craig Cimmons with assistant coach John Van Hoesen.

The Lady Eagles volleyball team is off to a slow start, but they show promise. Half the team is made up of freshmen and the other half are returning players. Head coach Craig Cimmons, in his first year as head coach, is building a strong team. The team is losing matches only by a few points. The players are all improving their skills and learning how to work together. “Coaching the women's volleyball team has been a great experience for me. The ladies on the team are wonderful people and the games and practices are always very fun. It has given me great pleasure to watch the individual skill level of the players rise while at the same time the seeing them become a true team,” Craig said.

Green Mountain woman’s volleyball team record is one win and four losses so far this season. They have won against Southern Vermont College and lost against Massachusetts College, Daniel Webster College, Southern Vermont College, and Keene State College of New Hampshire. The team has three more away games and a tournament at Skidmore College.

Melissa “Tex” Pechacek and Blair Waycasy are the teams leading offensive players. Between them they have had 137 kills in five games. The rest of the team has had 56 kills this season. They are both very strong all around players. Their experience and talent has helped bring the team’s skill level up.

Lauren Mulhuish is the team’s most experienced setter. Lauren has had 97 good sets so far this year. Allison Berniker and Amanda Wells are also setting for the team. They both also are talented defensive players. Having three setters has given the Lady Eagles an edge over other teams.

Roberta “Berta” Pitkin, Nicole Kondziela, and Lindsey “Lin Diesel” Darling are the teams all around players. They can play all the positions on the court well, but they have their stronger areas too. Berta, playing on her first volleyball team ever, has grown to be an amazing blocker. She has had 13 blocks this season so far. Nicole and Lin Diesel are strong back row hitters. This is Lin Diesel’s last Green Mountain College volleyball season, and she’ll be missed.

Kresney Facin and Sheri Knowles are defensive players for the team. They both are improving with every week. Sheri is the team’s most consistent server. Kresney is a good back row hitter. All the ladies combined work together to make a strong team.

With each game the Lady Eagles are working better together. They are passing better and hitting more. The whole team can hit well. The GMC woman’s volleyball team is the one of the only teams in their league to have really strong back row hitters. This unique talent has set them apart from other teams.
Most of all the Lady Eagles know how to have fun. John Van Hoesen has worked with the team all season as the assistant coach. He says, “I interact with students all day long, however it is the highlight of my day to go to volleyball practice and interact with "students" as athletes, and more importantly as people on such a personal level. Anyone walking by practice can see how dedicated as well as how much fun these women are; their sense of humor is addictive and uplifting. Thank you ladies!”