Casper College ~ Thunderbird Athletics ~ Casper, Wyoming

YOUTH, ENTHUSIASM WILL HAVE TO CARRY THE THUNDERBIRDS

There is nothing easy about coaching at the junior college level.

Best case scenario a coach will lose half the roster to graduation every year.
Casper College volleyball coach Angel Sharman enters her 10th season on the hill and knows all about the challenge. Going into this season Sharman faces the difficult task of replacing eight departed sophomores off last year's roster. Four of those sophomores earned post-season honors.

Breanna Wood (Casper), the two-time Libero of the Year, along with Kristin Glisczinski (Casper), second team All American Konafesi Vaisigano (Salt Lake City) and Katya Kopanarova (Bulgaria) have all departed after winning 64 matches in two seasons.
This year's roster includes nine freshmen, who will have to grow up in a hurry if the T-Birds are to maintain the altitude they have enjoyed for the past three seasons. The T-Birds have made the finals of the Region IX tournament three years running. To do it again will take some chemistry and a little bit of luck, Sharman says.

This team, she says, has a chance to be good. "We are capable of being a real defensive oriented team. Our blocking should be better; we have to get used to the quickness of the (college) game. But that size should give us good presence at the net. If we move our feet we will be OK. If we are standing and watching we will struggle."

The T-Birds have some mountains to climb early. The season-opening tournament includes games against perennial juco power Miami Dade along with Southern Idaho, North Idaho and Snow. In week two, Sharman takes her team on the road to Texas.
"I would rather play teams like that and maybe take a loss rather than play a walkover team and not get where we need to be," she says.

Sharman returns three sophomores, but only one – Marija (Maria) Jovanovic – started last season. Sierra Hook (Philip, S.D.) stepped in for the injured Cami Miller (Pocatello) last year and is expected to bolster that front line again this season. Heather Perry (St. Marys, Kan.) has "stepped up" according to Sharman, and just needs to connect with her setters.

Sharman's teams have always been tough defensively. Jessica Reble (Gillette) and Kylee Pietrzak (Casper) are the two heirs to the Libero throne, a position that has garnered all region attention for Casper College the past six seasons. Pietrzak is not at 100 percent after a knee injury last spring. Reble has looked good in practice, Sharman says. Ashley Straughan (Casper) can hit and defend.

Moriahn "Mo" Bunny gives Sharman the option of running a two set offense, something she may experiment with early in the year.

The host of freshman hitters will all have an opportunity to sort out who will be on the front line. Susanna Cricchi (Italy), Kendra Timm (Haxton, Colo.) and Savannah Donarski (Powell) have had good preseason workouts. Alicia Lindemood (Mountain View) and Ivana Valkova (Bulgaria) will get a lot of playing time early.

"There is no big banger out there like Katya (Kopanarova) or Fesi (Vaisigano)," Sharman says. "But several of these players remind me of Glis (Glisczinski), who in a quiet solid way just got the job done. We have players who can put it away."

When asked what it will take for this flock of Thunderbirds to reach altitude, Sharman smiled. "Our passing stinks. We've been working on that 24/7. If we can fix our serve receive our offense can be great. And we are capable of being a defensive-oriented team."

Hallmarks of the Sharman era, to be sure.

Opponents and fans alike can probably bet on the Thunderbirds to learn their early lessons and be right back in the hunt come November.

HEAD COACH:
Angel Sharman
Head Coach

307-268-2335
307-268-2887 - fax

SHARMAN CLIMBS TO ELITE STATUS AMONG NJCAA'S TOP COACHES

What a run it has been. Two Region IX North championships and three consecutive appearances in the regional championship match.

While that is always the goal, everybody who has been around the junior college game know how difficult that can be. Somehow, Angel Sharman simply re-loads and then does it again with hard work and attention to detail.

Sharman is fifth among the top active winningest coaches in the NJCAA, having passed some significant milestones in her 15 years of coaching. At Casper College, she has celebrated four regional championships and her 400th career victory along the way.
Sharman enters her 10th season at Casper and has no plans to slow down. Her career mark is 414-327; her record at Casper is 304-166 (.646). She has been named regional coach of the year five times. Her 2003 team, which captured the college's first championship, still holds the record of 43 match victories.

Sharman celebrated her 400th win last season, and characteristic of the Thunderbird coach she credited "the entire T-Bird family" for the milestone win.

She grew up in rural Nebraska, where you get to work early and you stay late. There is no substitute for hard work, she says.

Sharman has always been player focused. It shows in the success of her Thunderbirds: she has coached five NJCAA All Americans, 11 academic All Americans and 27 all-Region IX performers. Her teams have won three of the last six Region IX North championships.

Off the court, her players have really shined. Two of her Casper College teams earned academic All America honors.

Sharman's teams win primarily because of defense. She believes in aggressive play at the net, and a tough defense behind the blockers. Her defense annually ranks among the best in the country statistically every season. She has coached the likes of Kylie Peck, Trisha Clark, Whitney Schilling, Katie Bird and Brianna Wood – some of the best defensive players in the history of Region IX volleyball.

Ask her about priorities, and Sharman will talk about the classroom. "I want my players to graduate," she says. "I want them prepared for life after volleyball."

Sharman serves as an instructor and physical education department chair at Casper College. She was an outstanding basketball and volleyball player at Mid-Plains Community College (North Platte, Neb.) and Fort Hayes State (Kan.). She played for NJCAA Hall o Famer Sally Thalken at Mid Plains. Prior to coaching in Casper, she coached for five seasons at Colby College (Kan.), where she led her teams to two Region VI playoff appearances.

Sharman earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Fort Hays State.

Portrait Katie Boulter
Assistant Volleyball Coach

307-268-2335

Katie is back this fall for her second season as assistant volleyball coach. Katie is considered one of the best all around players ever to put on a T-Bird uniform. She earned All America honors playing for Coach Sharman in 2002 and still has a prominent place in the record books. The Cokeville native was twice named to the All Region IX North team. She is married to Mike and they have a daughter, Annali.

Bill Landen
Athletic Director

(307) 268-2667

Bill Landen took over as athletic director two years ago, but he is not new to those who have been around Casper College and its athletic programs.

Bill has spent the past 22 years at Casper College. Prior to accepting his current role, Bill served as Director of College Relations for 18 years.

Bill’s commitment to the T-Birds dates back to his student days at Casper College, where he wrote about Swede Erickson’s T-Birds as editor of the campus newspaper. He later covered Casper College as a professional journalist for the Casper Star-Tribune and KTWO Radio.

Since his arrival in the athletic department, his focus has been on community and student involvement in the college’s four sports programs. Bill has worked with the T-Bird Booster Club to establish a permanent endowment for athletics, and that fund hit the quarter million dollar mark this year.

T-Bird fans may recognize Bill from his days as the radio play-by-play voice of the T-Birds in the 1980s and ‘90s. Along with serving as the voice of the T-Birds, Bill spent 18 years in marketing and information for the college. He has earned numerous awards during his professional career, including twice being named Wyoming’s Sportswriter of the Year by the national association of sportswriters and sportscasters. He was named Rosenthal Outstanding Administrator at Casper College in 1997. In 1993 he was honored by his peers as Communicator of the Year by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations.

Along with his duties at Casper College, Bill was recently elected to the Wyoming Legislature as State Senator for District 27.

Bill’s wife, Robyn, is the Director of Financial Services/Controller for Casper College. They have three children: Nick, Zack and Hailey.

Kay Demaree
Administrative Assistant, Athletics

307-268-3000

Kay joined the athletic department team after serving the past year as the academic assistant for the Business Division. Kay coordinates all the athletic office duties, including season ticket sales and corporate sponsorships.

#	NAME	BIO	HT.	YR.	POS.	HOMETOWN
1	Moriahn Bunney	[BIO]	5'8	FR	S	Gillette, WY
2	Savannah Donarski	[BIO]	6'0"	FR	MH	Powell, WY
3	Jessica Reble	[BIO]	5'1"	FR	L	Gillette, WY
4	Marija Jovanovic	[BIO]	6'0	SO	S	Subotica, Serbia
5	Ashley Straughan	[BIO]	5'7"	FR	RS	Casper, WY
7	Kendra Timm	[BIO]	5'10"	FR	OH	Haxton, CO
8	Ivana Valkova	[BIO]	6'0"	FR	OH	Sofia, Bulgaria
9	Heather Perry	[BIO]	5'9	SO	OH	St. Marys, KS
10	Alicia Lindemood	[BIO]	5'9	FR	OH/RS	Mountain View, WY
12	Kylee Pietrzak	[BIO]	5'6	FR	Def	Casper, WY
13	Sierra Hook	[BIO]	6'0	SO	MH/RS	Philip, SD
14	Susanna Cricchi	[BIO]	6'0"	FR	MH	Rieti, Italy

COACH: Angel Sharman
COLORS: Red and White
MASCOT: Thunderbird
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR: Bill Landen
PRESIDENT: Dr. Walter Nolte

| PRINTABLE SCHEDULE | TICKET PRICES |

Month	Date	Opponent	Location	Time	Webcast
August	27,28	CSI Tourney	Twin Falls, ID	TBA
September	3,4	Frank Phillips Tourney	Borger, TX	TBA
September	7	LCCC	Casper, WY	7 p.m.
September	8	EWC	Casper, WY	7 p.m.
September	11	Dawson CC	Glendive, MT	5 p.m.
September	14	Sheridan College	Sheridan, WY	7 p.m.
September	17,18	Pizza Hut Invite	Sterling, CO	TBA
September	21	WNCC	Casper, WY	7 p.m.
September	23,24,25	Wyo/Braska Tourney	Torrington, WY/ Scottsbluff, NE	TBA
September	28	CWC	Riverton, WY	7 p.m.
September	30	Northwest College	Powell, WY	7 p.m.
October `	5	Sheridan College	Casper, WY	7 p.m.
October	7	WWCC	Rock Springs, WY	7 p.m.
October	9	Dawson CC	Casper, WY	5 p.m.
October	12	LCCC	Cheyenne, WY	7 p.m.
October	14	EWC	Torrington, WY	7 p.m.
October	19	Northwest College	Casper, WY	7 p.m.
October	21	CWC	Casper, WY	7 p.m.
October	23	WNCC	Scottsbluff, NE	7 p.m.
October	28	WWCC	Casper, WY	7 p.m.

November	3,4,5,6	Region IX Tourney	Glendive, MT	TBA
November	18,19, 20	National Tourney	West Plains, MO	TBA

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