By Tara Sowle
UWRF Sports Information

The Falcon volleyball team has three juniors that make up the key group of returning players for this season. All three won post-season honors last year earning honorable mention to the 2004 All-WIAC team.

This group of multitalented players brings two years of experience and the promise of more to come.

“What make them so key for us is that they are such quality players. They have proven to the WIAC that when the going gets tough they usually come up with the big plays,” said Falcon Coach Patti Ford.

Those players are Andrea Geehan, Kate Thompson, and Kat Krtnick.

Geehan, a 6-1 middle hitter, had 382 kills and led the Falcons with a .254 hitting percentage. She had 43 aces and 120 blocks. She also led the team with 25 solo blocks and had 95 block assists. She can also help defensively shown by the 116 digs she had in 2004.

After her recognition from the WIAC, she feels motivated to work harder in practice and games to reach the same goal. She comes into this season motivated to continue her progress. “My personal goals include being named to the All-WIAC team, to improve my stats from last year, to help take our team to the NCAA Tournament.”

Her favorite part of the game include, “having long rallies and winning them, working on a strategy and achieving, and finally having a good crowd cheer us on.”

Krtnick the team’s 5-5 setter, had 1,575 assists last season, but she can do a lot more the just set. She finished second in kills with 382. She had 458 digs and 37 aces, both third on the team. She’s a threat at the net too, with nine solo and 38 total blocks.

Krtnick is one of the three team captains this year and takes her position seriously. “Being a captain of any team requires a superior level of enthusiasm, responsibility and initiative, especially with the start of a new season. As a teammate, being a captain enhances my team spirit and always reminds me to reinforce camaraderie between the players.”

“Kat is a coach’s dream – she is so talented," Ford boasted. "She is an outside hitter by trade, but took over setting last season for the good of the team. She has a tremendous feel for the game. Plus she has all the intangible leadership skills that make her a natural leader and that is what we need out of our
setter."

Krtnick sees the team going far this year, “The Falcon volleyball program has been one of the powerhouses in the WIAC for the past few years; hopefully this year will be no different. But we have a lot of work to do before we reach that level. I’d love to see this team become one of the premier defensive squads in the league this season.”

Thompson will be working the outside hitting spot to improve on the 307 kills she had last season. With an average of 3.34 a game she looks to mark up the scoreboard as much as possible this year. She had 36 aces, the fourth highest on the team, and 244 digs with 13 assists. She finished with five solo and 22 total blocks.

She played in 92 games, but missed several matches due to an injury, but as long as she’s healthy, Thompson, 5-9, looks to give it her all. “I don’t really care about winning as long as we played the best we can. I think we just need to go out on the court and give it all we have.”

Now that that these players are one year older they look to have more pressure on them. “There’s more stress on them this year, but they are capable and talented enough to handle it, “ said Ford.

With the Falcons predicted to finish third this season in the WIAC the pressure is definitely on. With a rugged WIAC schedule to come the Falcons will be looking to these three players to help them achieve all of the team's goals.