2009 Volleyball Roster No. Player Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown (Previous School) 1 Ellen Sawin S 6-0 So. New Lenox, Ill. (Lincoln-Way Central) 2 Jessica Knackmuhs OH 5-11 Fr. Albion, Ill. (Edwards County) 4 Julie Sylvester L/DS 5-5 Jr. Carmel, Ind. (Cathedral) 5 April Lubrecht L/DS 5-5 So. Edgewood, Ky. (NotreDameAcademy) 7 Emily Wandersee OH 5-10 Jr. St. Louis, Mo. (Duchesne) 8 Rachel Robinson MH 6-2 Sr. Urbana Ill. (Parkland College) 9 Maia Miller DS 5-7 Fr. Honolulu, Hawaii (Sacred Hearts) 10 Ginta Gabruseva RS 6-2 Sr. Riga, Latvia (Kansas State) 11 Brooke Maher OH 5-11 So. Mason, Ohio (Ursuline) 12 Kaisi Nixon MH/S 6-0 So. Jasper, Ind. (Jasper) 13 Viera Rajcan MH 6-1 Jr. Lisle, Ill. (Naperville North) 15 Hannah Wilson OH 5-11 Fr. Granite City, Ill. (St. Joseph’s) Head Coach: Mike Swan (7th Season) Assistant Coach: Tom Mendoza (1st Season) Graduate Assistant: Rose Obunaga (1st Season) Student Manager: Shelby Knierem Athletic Trainer: Kristin Hodge, Rachel Grzelak 2 0 0 9University E InformationVANSVILLE V OLLEYBALLTeam Information Name: . .University of Evansville 2008 Overall Record: . .14-18 Founded: .................................................1854 2008 MVC Record/finish: . .8-10/6th Location: . .Evansville, IN Letterwinners Returning/Lost: . .9/3 Enrollment: . 2,593 Starters Returning/Lost: . .5/2 Nickname: . .Purple Aces Newcomers ..................................................4 Colors: . .Purple, Orange and White Home Court (capacity): . .Carson Center (500) Conference: . .Missouri Valley Conference Athletic Trainers . .Kristin Hodge, Rachel Grzelak President: . .Dr. Stephen Jennings Strength and Conditioning Coach . .Joe Hermes Faculty Representative . .Dr. James MacLeod Student Manager . Shelby Knierem Athletics Director . .John Stanley Associate A.D. for External Affairs . .Dwight Merilatt Media Information Senior Woman Administrator/Associate A.D.. .Sarah Solinsky Director of Marketing and Ticket Services . .Rob Mallory Volleyball SID: . .Whitney Tarpy Development Director . .Al Bragin Office Phone: . .(812) 488-2350 External Affairs Interns . Liz McMurray, Caleb Whitted e-mail: . [email protected] Director of New Media . .David Theby Sports Information Director: . .Bob Boxell Equipment Manager . .Daryl Buente Office Phone: . .(812) 488-2285 Athletics Department Phone: . .(812) 488-2238 e-mail: . [email protected] Athletics Department Fax: . .(812) 488-2199 SID Fax: . .(812) 488-2090 Athletics Department Website: . .www.GoPurpleAces.com Assistant SID . Tom Benson Office phone . (812) 488-1152 Coach Information E-mail . [email protected] Head Coach: . .Mike Swan (Manchester College, 1979) Career Record: . .457-344 (23 years) Office Phone: . .(812) 488-2755 Credits: The 2009 volleyball media guide was written and designed by e-mail: . [email protected] Shanna Alexander with assistance from Whitney Tarpy and Jennifer Assistant Coach: . .Tom Mendoza (Lewis University) McKee. Photos by Tim Williams at ShootMyPhoto.com, Lois Patton Office Phone: . .(812) 488-2593 e-mail: . [email protected] and Gene Koch. Printing by Schutte Lithography, Evansville, Indiana. To Graduate Assistant: . Rose Obunaga (Columbia College) view the media guide online, go to www.GoPurpleAces.com. e-mail: . [email protected] A CES S UPPORT S TAFF DR. STEPHEN JOHN DR. JAMES SARAH DWIGHT ROB AL BRAGIN DARYL TERRY JENNINGS STANLEY MACLEOD SOLINSKY MERILATT MALLORY Development Director BUENTE COLLINS President Director of Athletics Faculty Rep Associate A.D./ Associate Director of Equipment Head Senior Woman Athletics Director for Marketing & Manager Athletics Trainer Administrator External Affairs Ticketing Services TROY RHONDA LIZ MCMURRAY CALEB WHITTED KRISTIN HODGE BRANDON BOB BOXELL TOM BENSON WHITNEY TARPY COPPUS HOLDER External Affairs External Affairs Athletics Trainer WARNER Sports Information Assistant Sports Information Athletics Trainer Athletics Trainer Director Sports Information Intern Administrative Intern Intern Intern Director Associate to the Athletics Director DAVID THEBY JOE JESSICA DEB WES CARROLL MARTY SIMMONS MISTY MURPHY DON WALTERS JIM HAMILTON Director of New HERMES JETTON KASSENBROCK Baseball Men’s Basketball Women’s Cross Country Golf Media Strength & Assistant to Director Director of Basketball Conditioning Coach of Compliance Academic Advising Thank You! The coaching staff and players would like to thank the following financial supporters of UE volleyball: Clifford McGuyer Jenny Zenthoefer Roy and Marlene Zenthoefer Don and Donna Maher Doug and Rie Sylvester Holly Nixon Martha Corigan David Robinson MIKE JACOBS KRISTA MARK REDBURN RICKEY PERKINS CHRISTINE Wayne and Mary Robinson John Kincaid Men’s Soccer MCKENDREE Softball Swimming & Diving BADER Libby Doyle Marko and Viera Rajcan Women’s Soccer Tennis Mark and Jo Wandersee Walt and Laura Maher David and Becky Nixon Ed and Terry Lubrecht Lynn Rottkamp Lacy Haller John and Nancy Dury David and Claudia Diehl Ethel Nixon Bob and Clara Swan Dave and Terry Kincaid Tom Tornatta “Coach Swan has taken our volleyball program Mike and Mary Walroth GE Foundation Tom Kulupka Mike Swan to a higher level, and he’s done it with players Ron and Betsy Sawin who are good students and good role models. To contribute to Aces Volleyball, contact Mike Swan at 812-488-2755, by email at [email protected] or Their go-all-out style of play has created a great contact Tom Mendoza at 812-488-2593 or email [email protected]. You can also send contributions to atmosphere for our fans at Carson Center.” 1800 Lincoln Avenue, Evansville, Indiana 47722. John Stanley, Director of Athletics 2 HEAD COACH Seven years ago, the University of Evansville set out to rebuild a volleyball program and entrustedI theK processE to an experiencedW coach whoA hadN proven heM knew how to win. In the years followingS the hire, Mike Swan has built Evansville into a Missouri Valley Conference contender and established himself as one of the sport’s top coaches. “Rebuilding in the MVC is a much longer process than I expected because the MVC is so strong,” Swan said. “In the last two or three years, we have been able to find our niche in recruiting because girls want small environ- ments with strong academics. Because of everything UE provides, we have had strong recruiting classes the last few years.” It didn’t take long for Swan to see that the Evansville campus and com- munity was a match for him as a professional and in his everyday life. The 2009 season marks Swan’s second-longest coaching tenure at one school. “Evansville just proves to be a great fit for me,” Swan said. “It continues to improve, and I feel more confident that this is a great place to be in and the right fit for me. I consistently have great assistants to help challenge the players, which is also an extra bonus. “With the small environment and the friendships I have made with the coaches and the community, I continue to love it here at Evansville,” Swan said. “It just has so much to offer for me personally.” When first arriving at Evansville in January of 2002, Swan inherited a team that had just won five games the previous season. Although it would be a major obstacle in Swan’s career, he quickly turned the program in a new direction. After two seasons with the Aces, he more than doubled Evans- ville’s 2002 win total. Before his time at UE, Swan had proven that he was a winner. While at Morehead State, Swan was named the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2001 and led the school to second-place OVC finishes in both 2001 and 2002. In his final three seasons with the Eagles, Swan’s teams were av- eraging over 20 wins per season and posted regional rankings during his last two campaigns at MSU. Swan’s defensive mindset also played a tremendous role for Morehead State as the school was ranked among the nation’s leaders in digs per game in four out of Swan’s five seasons as head coach. Twice Swan took the Eagles as high as second in the nation in digs per game, including his final season when the team averaged 21.4 digs per game. Prior to taking over the helm at Morehead State, Swan spent a season at NCAA Division II American International College in Springfield, Mas- sachusetts, where the Yellow Jackets recorded a 23-10 mark in 1997. A native to the state of Indiana, Swan was called upon to resurrect a program that had fallen on hard times in his home state. Swan brought his golden touch to Manchester College and guided a school that had only won two matches one season before to its second-highest victory total ever after three seasons. Swan also directed the teams at Huntington College to new heights during his eight-year tenure with the Foresters. As head coach, he guided Huntington to national prominence at the NAIA level. In 1993, Swan led the program to a 36-9 overall record, No. 11 national ranking and an ap- pearance in the NAIA national championship tournament. Named conference “Coach of the Year” in seven out of his eight seasons at Huntington, Swan’s highest honor came after the 1993 campaign as he was named Mid-East Region Coach of the Year. Swan’s head coaching career began at Southwood High School in Wabash, Indiana, where he led the Knights to a 115-37 mark in six seasons and helped Southwood reach the state semifinals in 1983. A product of Lagro, Indiana, Swan graduated from Manchester College in 1979 with a degree in Secondary Education. He is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and has a Level II certification through the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA). Swan’s Career Highlights *457 career victories *2001 OVC Coach of the Year *Ranks in the nation’s Top 40 in victories among active Division I coaches *14 Post-season Tournament Appearances *Seven Conference Championship Teams 3 ASSISTANT COACH The UniversityO of EvansvilleM volleyball team welcomesE N Tom DMendozaO as the newZ A assistantT coach for the 2009-10M season.