The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

MUM volleyball focus is another state title

A mix of upperclassmen, freshmen leading team that’s undefeated in conference play.

Frazier’s home run lifts Reds to 5th straight win
10:20 a.m.
Spartans head to regional final
5/24/12
Fenwick’s tourney run ends in regional semis
5/24/12
2 Middie jumpers qualify for state
5/24/12
College baseball: Miami tops Toledo in MAC tourney
5/23/12
> More sports headlines

By Skip Weaver, Staff Writer 12:46 AM Sunday, October 3, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — This year’s Miami University Middletown women’s volleyball team is made up of several experienced upperclassmen and a few talented freshmen.

That mixture has been the perfect blend for the ThunderHawks, who are 15-2 overall and 5-0 in the Ohio Regional Campus Conference after a win at Wright State Lake on Saturday.

Four upperclassmen — senior Shayna Reed and juniors Devon Wells, Cailee Bryant and Dana Hamblin — were members of the 2008 MUM team that made an improbable late-season run to win the ORCC state championship, and now they want to make another memorable run.

MUM won its last seven matches to win the 2008 state title, the school’s first since 2001.

“I remember reading a newspaper article after winning the state title that we were working for the team instead of ourselves,” said Wells, a three-year team captain who is a graduate of Middletown High School.

“That’s the way it is this year. There’s no drama. Everyone is really close and we are all focused on one thing.”

Knowing this could be their last chance, winning another state title is at the forefront for the four team leaders.

“We were all really excited (in 2008),” said Reed, an Eaton graduate. “We wanted to come in and do what we could to turn things around because they hadn’t won much the year before, but winning state was totally unexpected.”

An off year in 2009 and an influx of six talented underclassmen has given the ThunderHawks hope for a second state title run.

“Now we expect to do well,” said Bryant, a Twin Valley South graduate. “This year we want to win our conference and the state title.”

The underclassmen include sophomore Elaine Donges (Badin), who leads the team with 20 ace serves, and freshmen Jamie Patterson (Middletown), Casey Reaver (Fairfield), Taylor Withrow (Preble Shawnee), Cara Klinefelter (Madison) and Hillary Demostenes (Middletown).

Bryant is the kills and blocks leader with 139 and 15 respectively, while Hamblin leads the defense with 181 digs. Wells is the assists leader with 22.

“It’s a whole different level playing at college,” Wells said. “But it’s all mental. You just have to know you belong on the court, and within the first few practices, we knew we all belonged together.”

Second-year coach Scott Garver, who was a volunteer assistant with the 2008 squad, said this team has what it takes to win state again.

“They’ve got great team chemistry and a great work ethic,” said Garver, a Badin graduate. “They are really students of the game. They make adjustments on their own on the court, and they help each other out at the same time.

“It’s really been a fun team to coach,” he added.

MUM has played some strong competition already this season, but will face another tough opponent on Tuesday when it hosts Edison State Community College, the 19th-ranked team in the country, according to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852 or sweaver@coxohio.com.

Share this article