Martindale hopes to win conference championships

This archived article was written by: Josh Luke

The CEU women’s volleyball team is returning this year hoping to win their conference. “We have some very talented players on the team this year,” said head Coach Brent Martindale.
He also said, “There are seven returning sophomores this year who worked very had during the spring workouts. There are also seven new recruits who have been battling to see who will get to play.” He added that the new players brought the team good height and a lot of athleticism.
The College of Southern Idaho is expected to be the toughest team in the conference as usual. According to Martindale, Southern Idaho brings in international players, which helps them out a lot. Some of these players come from as far away as Brazil and Yugoslavia. But the biggest reason that he thinks they will be at the top of the conference is that last year their team was made up of primarily freshmen. That means that their third-place finish last year should be better this year because most of their players will be this year’s sophomores. “Having gained some experience from last year’s play they are going to be very tough to beat this year,” said Martindale. He also stated that he thought that Southern Idaho would probably be ranked number one in the nation this year.
CEU has a strong team this year and Coach Martindale feels that they will be very competitive. He said that the most interesting thing about the conference this year is that other than Southern Idaho the other six teams will battle each other. He also stated that the other teams in the conference including CEU were to close to tell.
The CEU Volleyball team has some of the best athletes in the conference including Amy Warburton who received an All Conference honorable mention. Also crucial to the team’s success are setter Canace gunnell and outside hitter Jen Fisher.
The sophomores on the team include Tiffany Hansen from Price, Utah; Candace Gunnell from Logan, Utah; Jen Fisher from Idaho Falls, Idaho; Amy Warburton from Idaho Falls, Idaho; Cassidy Dawes from Salt Lake City, Utah; Jess Silver from Woods Cross, Utah and Brooke Wilson from Sandy, Utah
Also this year there are seven freshmen for whom there are high expectations. They are Brittany Bentley from Price, Utah; Megan Webb from Declo, Idaho; Kami Waite from Layton, Utah; Melissa Webb from Declo, Idaho; Megan Hunsaker from Anchorage, Alaska; Heather Palmer from Mesa, Arizona; and Kelsey Rhoades from Chubbock, Idaho.
The coaches include nine-year head coach Brent Martindale, and six-year-assistant coach, Carrie Icard along with assistant Bob Potts. Jesse Laws is the team manager.
“The CEU volleyball team enjoys big crowds from the students at CEU,” said Martindale. The next home game for the team is scheduled for Wednesday, September 8, when CEU will play national-ranked College of Southern Idaho. The coach hopes CEU will support the CEU volleyball team this year.