Eagles Announce McGovern to lead Eagle Volleyball
March 26, 2013
Kansas City, MO – Athletic Director Gary Gallup has announced after a nationwide search that Loretta McGovern will be taking over as Head Volleyball coach at Avila University. McGovern inherits a squad that had its first winning season in six years under former head coach Krista Newman.
Gallup had the following to say on the hiring of McGovern, ““We are very excited that Loretta is joining our great athletic staff at Avila. Her enthusiasm for the game is contagious and her network and contacts in the Kansas City area will be very positive in the continued development of our Eagle volleyball program. ”
Growing up just down the street from Avila, McGovern was a former standout at Notre Dame de Sion high school. She was a second team All-Metro selection as a senior, and was also selected to the Kirkwood Volleyball Association all-state team.
McGovern went on to play collegiately at the University of Missouri and reached two national tournaments in her two seasons as a Tiger. McGovern stepped away from volleyball her final two years at UM to focus on her education.
After a five year hiatus from the college game, McGovern served as both a player and assistant coach at Rockhurst University under head coach Tracy Rietzke, one of the winningest coaches all-time in NCAA Volleyball. The Hawks produced winning records in all three years McGovern served on staff, including two 20-win seasons.
Over the past twelve months, McGovern has served as an assistant coach at Johnson County Community College. This past season, the Cavaliers compiled a record of 28-6, going 7-3 in the East Jayhawk Conference and finishing second in the district tournament.
In addition to her collegiate experience, McGovern served as Head JV Coach at Helias High School in Jefferson City from 2003 to 2006, Freshman Head Coach at Notre Deam De Sion in 2006, and has been a Team KC Volleyball Club coach since 2007.
With the Eagles looking to build off an 18-16 record and their second consecutive HAAC Conference tournament appearance, McGovern has high hopes for the future saying. “I would like to thank Gary Gallup and Avila for giving me this great opportunity to continue to build the reputation of Avila volleyball in the HAAC and beyond. I am very excited to build upon the program's growing success!"
McGovern earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri in journalism in advertising and a master’s degree in secondary English education from Rockhurst University.
Frakes & Stephenson Receive Scholar-Athlete Honors
December 12, 2012
Kansas City, MO - The NAIA office released their 2012 Daktronics Scholar-Athlete's list this week, and for the second year in a row, both Katelyn Frakes and Erin Stpehenson received scholar-athlete honors. Complete List
Katelyn Frakes - Senior | Peculiar, Missouri
Erin Stephenson - Senior | Lee’s Summit, Missouri
To qualify for the honor, student-athletes must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status in order qualify. 408 Women's Volleyball student-athletes nationally have been named 2012 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
Frakes Named HAAC Setter of the Year; Four Others Receive All HAAC Honors
November 26, 2012
Kansas City, MO – After finishing the 2012 season with an 18-15 record, the Eagles first winning season in over six years, senior setter Katelyn Frakes made some history of her own as she was the first player in the programs history to be named HAAC Setter of the Year. Katelyn was also selected to the 1st Team All HAAC squad for her second consecutive year.
Frakes, a Peculiar, Missouri native finished the 2012 season with 916 assists. Her 8.6 assists per game was good enough for second in the HAAC. Frakes also led the Eagles in assists (42) and digs (337) and finished fourth in kills (93) and total blocks (29).
In her four years at Avila, Katelyn has eclipsed the 3000 mark for assists, the 1000 mark in digs, and the 100 mark in aces.
Year |
Team |
GP |
K |
E |
TA |
Ast |
SA |
SE |
Rec |
RE |
DIG |
BS |
BA |
TB |
BE |
BHE |
2009 |
AU |
101 |
96 |
23 |
298 |
711 |
47 |
28 |
0 |
1 |
201 |
8 |
12 |
20 |
7 |
9 |
2010 |
AU |
78 |
139 |
37 |
430 |
461 |
19 |
35 |
114 |
9 |
247 |
9 |
17 |
26 |
6 |
0 |
2011 |
AU |
120 |
96 |
41 |
374 |
1038 |
46 |
26 |
43 |
2 |
457 |
8 |
24 |
32 |
3 |
22 |
2012 |
AU |
106 |
93 |
28 |
339 |
916 |
42 |
26 |
37 |
3 |
337 |
9 |
20 |
29 |
6 |
17 |
Total |
|
405 |
424 |
129 |
1441 |
3126 |
154 |
115 |
194 |
15 |
1242 |
34 |
73 |
107 |
22 |
48 |
Fellow senior Vanessa Hemkens received All HAAC honors for the second consecutive year as she was named to the second team squad.
The 5’7 outside hitter finished the 2012 campaign with 335 kills, leading the Eagles and ranking fourth in the conference. Hemkens’ high point of the year came against Bethany College as she registered a career high 17 kills.
Vanessa rounds out her four year career as an Eagle with over 700 kills.
Year |
Team |
GP |
K |
E |
TA |
Ast |
SA |
SE |
Rec |
RE |
DIG |
BS |
BA |
TB |
BE |
BHE |
2009 |
AU |
77 |
141 |
90 |
508 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
38 |
2 |
9 |
11 |
6 |
0 |
2010 |
AU |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2011 |
AU |
106 |
261 |
99 |
823 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
101 |
7 |
111 |
7 |
31 |
38 |
0 |
1 |
2012 |
AU |
107 |
335 |
120 |
963 |
5 |
14 |
17 |
67 |
10 |
118 |
11 |
17 |
28 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
|
293 |
737 |
309 |
2294 |
10 |
16 |
22 |
168 |
24 |
267 |
22 |
57 |
79 |
9 |
5 |
Sophomores Emily Koch (Topeka, Kan.) and Sarah McMillian (Belton, Mo.) were joined by Freshman Kelsey Wagner (Blue Springs, Mo.) on the HAAC honorable mention list.
Koch, a Second Team All HAAC performer as a freshman, finished third on the team in kills (203) and total blocks (34). After 223 games as an Eagle, Emily is just 27 kills away from reaching the half-century mark.
McMillian, a 5’11 middle-hitter led the Eagles in total blocks with 65, ranking 19th in the conference. Sarah was also fourth on the team in kills with 174 in 32 matches.
Kelsey Wagner, a 5’10 outside-hitter led the Eagles freshman class of five and finished second in the program in kills with 275, ranking 14th in the HAAC. Wagner was a key contributor in conference play as she had a career high 20 kills against culver Stockton and registered 19 kills against Benedictine College.
Eagles Make Conference Tournament As Fifth Seed
October 31, 2012
Kansas City, MO - For the second consecutive year, the Eagles have made the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament. After making the tournament in 2011 as the eight seed, the Eagles received the fifth seed in this year’s tournament, just one spot out of hosting a playoff game. Avila will take on Baker University, the four seed, Saturday, November 3 at 7:00PM in Baldwin City, KS.
The Eagles currently rank fourth in the HAAC in hitting percentage and sixth in assists and are led by seniors Vaneesa Hemkens and Katelyn Frakes. Hemkens ranks third in the conference in kills per set while Frakes ranks fourth in the conference in total assists and service aces.
The Eagles closed out their conference schedule last night in a 0-3 loss to HAAC champions MidAmerica Nazarene and finished the year with a 4-5 record in conference, their best conference record since 2006.
The team will close out their regular season this Thursday as they travel to Fulton, MO to take on Westminster College at 5:00PM.
Frakes Named HAAC Setter of the Week
October 2, 2012
Kansas City, MO – After defeating Benedictine College (5-16) in three straight games (25-22, 25-20, 25-20) and picking up their first win over the ravens since 2007, the Eagles were rewarded with their first HAAC Player of the Week under head coach Krista Newman.
Katelyn Frakes, a senior setter from Peculiar, MO led the Eagles to back-to-back conference wins over Benedictine and Culver-Stockton (25-15, 25-22, 19-25, 25-17) as they improved to 12-8 overall and 3-2 in the HAAC. She averaged 9.6 assists and 3.6 digs per set while also posting five kills, four blocks (two solo) and one service ace.
In 2011, Frakes was named First Team All-HAAC as she finished with 1,032 assists, ranking 58th in the nation and 2nd in the HAAC. The Eagles will hope to continue their conference winning streak as they head to Peru State (5-19, 0-4) this Friday for a 6:00PM contest in Peru, Nebraska.
Volleyball Team Looks to Continue Improvements Started Last Season - 2012 Season Preview
August 11, 2012
Kansas City, MO - To say the Avila Eagles volleyball team improved last season would be a vast understatement. Not only did the Eagles double the number of victories in the Heart of America Athletic Conference from 2010 to 2011, they increased their overall win total six-fold, improving from 3-19 to 16-18.
Having lost just one senior off last year’s squad and returning three all-conference players, coach Krista Newman is hoping to take another quantum leap forward in 2012.
“We’re hoping to build on what we started last year,” Newman said, “not only to make the conference tournament, but to advance to the late rounds.”
Leading the deep list of returning Eagles is senior Katelyn Frakes of Peculiar, Mo., a first-team all-HAAC selection and runner-up in the voting for conference setter of the year. Frakes established several Avila team records last season and led the Eagles with 1,038 assists and 46 kills.
Also adding senior experience will be fellow three-year players Vanessa Hemkens, a senior from Parkville, Mo. who led the Eagles in kills last season and earned honorable mention all-conference honors, and Erin Stephenson, a senior from Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Also back are Emily Koch, a sophomore from Topeka, Kan. who was a second-team all-conference pick at outside hitter, and Sarah McMillan, a sophomore from Belton, Mo. who will be relied on heavily in the middle of the court.
Newman said she also is excited about a group of newcomers that includes four freshmen and four junior college transfers.
Megan Hummel, a freshman from Liberty, Mo., will be looked upon to back up Frakes at setter this season. Kelsey Wagner, a freshman outside hitter from Blue Springs, Mo., Jessica Hicks, a freshman defensive specialist from Farmington, Mo. and Jaime Butrick, a freshman setter from Peculiar, round out the list of new freshmen. The leading transfer is Claire Sylvara, an outside hitter from Kansas City Kansas Community College whom Newman said should provide a lot of leadership.
“They’re hungry,” Newman said. “They’re ready to come out and work hard. Winning is a learned behavior, and these girls know how to win, know what it takes.
“I expect a lot out of these seniors.”
Newman said she expects MidAmerica Nazarene, Evangel and Baker to be three of the stronger teams in the Heart, which she considers one of the toughest conferences in all of NAIA.
“We’ll just try to get in there and compete,” she said. “I think we’ve gained the respect of the teams in the conference. We’re looking forward to getting in there and beating some teams this year.”
Eagles Announce Eight Player 2012 Signing Class
March 19, 2012
Kansas City, MO - Head Volleyball coach Krista Newman has announced that the Eagles will be adding eight new players to the squad this fall. The Eagles are looking to build off a a 2011 season that saw them finish 16-18 and make the conference tournament for the first time since 2007. Their sixteen wins surpassed their 2010 season total off just 3 and was more wins than the program had in the previous three seasons combined. The following players have chosen to continue their careers as student athletes at Avila University:
Megan Hummel - 5’8” Setter/ Opposite - Liberty North High School -Liberty, MO
Laken Walden - 5’10” Middle Blocker – Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College
Jaime Butrick – 5’8” Setter/ Opposite - Raymore Peculiar High School – Peculiar, MO
Macayla O’Kane – 5’11” Middle Blocker – Olathe North High School – Olathe, KS
Jessica Hicks – 5’6” Defensive Specialist - Farmington, High School – Farmington, MO
Kelsey Wagoner – 5’10” Outside Hitter – Blue Springs South High School – Blue Springs, MO
Michelle Staniforth – 5’8” Outside Hitter – Morgan County R-2 High School – Versailles, MO
Sarah Braun – 5’5” Defensive Specialist - East Central College – Union, MO
Avila Volleyball Team Members Earn All Conference Awards
Fall 2011
1st Team All Conference
Katelyn Frakes
2nd Team All Conference
Emily Koch
Honorable Mention All Conference
Vanessa Hemkens
Nicole Stewart
Holly Wilson
