Home Team
by Jeff Kelly
Losing a pair of All-Americans who hold
program records for assists and kills in a career typically is
reflected in a team’s preseason ratings. So when Austin College lost
its all-time leader in assists in Veronica Stephens ’07
and the all-time kills leader in Becca Harpham ’07, it
would have been only natural for college coaches to overlook the ’Roos
in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason top-25 poll.
 Instead, the coaches who vote in that
poll awarded the ’Roos with the highest ranking in program history at
No. 14. Perhaps that, as much as anything else, is a sign that coach
Ed Garza’s program has officially arrived as a perennial
national power.
While Garza did lose two of the best in
program history in Stephens and Harpham, he returned another
All-American in Kaitlin Listol ’08 and brought in six
talented freshmen in what is arguably the best recruiting class in his
tenure at Austin College.
“This freshman class is very talented,”
said Listol of the six newcomers. “I knew the first day of fall camp
that Morgan Ballard ’11 was going to make a huge impact on our
season. She has such natural ability and she seems to get better and
better every week. Having freshmen who can make the plays on the court
has really forced all of us to work hard and get better in order to
keep our spots on the court.”
Of course, having so many young and
untested players requires strong senior leadership, and Listol proved
more than ready for the task.
“I really did feel that with Becca
[Harpham] and Vee [Stephens] leaving that I would have to step up not
only on the court but in the leadership role,” said Listol. “I love
having a leadership role on the team and having the underclassmen look
up to me. It has been a fairly easy transition for me, mostly because
our team is such a great group and we all are so close.”
Behind the strong play of Listol plus
Ashley Hummel ’08, Jessica Rose ’09, and
Jessica Phillips ’10, the ’Roos quickly proved
themselves deserving of their high preseason ranking, racing out to a
9-0 start before falling to Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
rival Rhodes in a tough 3-2 battle Sept. 14 at the second SCAC
Crossover Tournament.
After stumbling briefly against Rhodes,
then against Birmingham-Southern and SCAC favorite Trinity, Garza got
his team back on track with 16 consecutive wins to bring them to 26-3
on the year following the fourth and final SCAC Crossover, including a
decisive win over Rhodes on the Lynx home floor.
Over the season, the ’Roos had plenty
of highlights, with Garza earning the 300th win in his Austin College
coaching career and Listol breaking Harpham’s kills record in a Sept.
28 match against Ouachita Baptist at the Austin College Classic.
 “I still remember when I got my first
win, and my 300th felt the same way,” said Garza of his historic
victory. “We were not always a top-25 program. It took us eight years
to reach the top 25, and we have worked hard to stay there. It is much
easier to be knocked down from the top than it is to reach the top so
we value the journey we have taken to get here.”
Listol and Ballard each earned SCAC
Player of the Week honors during the course of the season. For Listol,
becoming the all-time kills leader was a goal heading into the season.
“I had no clue that I was close,” said
the senior. “It turned out that I had a group of really close friends
attend the record-breaking game, so it became much more special that
they were there as well as my family.”
While Listol’s continued excellent play
was a given heading into the season, one of the most pleasant
surprises of the year has been the outstanding play of Phillips, who
took over for Stephens after getting sparse playing time as a
freshman.
Following such a successful player was
a tall task for Phillips, but she proved up to the task, developing
into one of the top setters in the conference. Twice she totaled 68
assists and added a 74-assistperformance Oct.13 in a five-game win
over Southwestern, placing her in the top five all-time assists for a
single match performance. As of the midway point in the season,
Phillips was leading the conference in that category.
“Jessica has really stepped up into the
setting role and I feel that she has surpassed everyone’s
expectations,” said Listol. Garza agreed with his All-American on the
performance of the sophomore setter.
“Jessica’s quick emergence has allowed
us an early seamless transition, a rarity when changing setters,” said
the coach. “We’ve been able to maintain our style of play and run the
same systems without having to scale back at all. Our hitters have
remained in sync without having to adapt their abilities to fit the
new setter. Veronica’s legacy was well established. Jessica will
establish her own legacy and she’s making the most of the opportunity
to do so.”
The ’Roos clinched the second seed in
the inaugural SCAC Tournament in November. To make it an even more
special event for the team, Austin College was chosen as the
tournament’s first host.
LATE UPDATE:
Making it to the championship game of
the SCAC tournament Nov. 3, the Austin College ’Roos couldn’t pull out
the victory, losing 3-2 to the No. 1-seeded Trinity University Tigers.
Rose had 23 kills and 13 digs for
Austin College, and Listol had 20 kills and 23 digs. Phillips had a
tournament-high 68 assists.
Listol and Hummel were named to the
All-Tournament Team. Listol was named SCAC Player of the Year,
breaking the SCAC single-season kill record with 646. Ballard was
named the SCAC Freshman of the Year and Garza was named SCAC Coach of
the Year.
The ’Roos earned a spot in the NCAA
Regional Tournament, yet to begin at press time.
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Making a Big Splash
 The swimming and diving program entered a new era in
the 2007–2008 season as Trey Sullivan took over as head
coach. He came to Austin College from the Temple Independent School
District, where he served as the aquatic director and head swim coach
from 2002 until 2007.
“Trey comes to Austin College with outstanding
experience and success coaching swimming at all levels of
competition,” said vice president for Student Affairs and Athletics
Tim Millerick.
At Temple, Sullivan coached the high school team to
a 79-11 record and owns a108-22 overall high school coaching record.
Under his direction, eight swimmers earned All-American honors and 21
student-athletes were named Academic All-Americans. In his five years
at Temple, Sullivan was named the District Coach of the Year four
times and boasted the District Swimmer of the Year in each of his
seasons. His girls team won the district championship four times and
the boys finished first or second in each of his five seasons.
“I believe Trey’s ability to coach the sport of
swimming and diving, along with his connections throughout the state
of Texas, will put him in a strong position to advance our swimming
and diving program to the next level as we compete in the Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III,” said Millerick.
“Austin College is great,” said Sullivan. “Everyone
has bent over backwards to help me and my family, and I want to say
thank you. I am still learning, and I hope to make Austin College
proud of what we are doing in the pool.”
The early results in Sullivan’s tenure have been
topnotch, with the women’s team winning its first meet of the season
and the men coming in second. When it comes to coaching his team,
Sullivan enters each meet with specific goals for his athletes.
“In a race I am looking for 100 percent in
technique, race strategy, mental toughness, and fitness,” said the
first-year Austin College coach. “A swimmer must have great starts,
turns, and the will to push past the comfort zone.”
Sullivan also offers a unique outlook on building
his team and getting the group to buy into the concepts he teaches,
comparing the team to a boat in a storm.
“For the crew to survive the storm and get back
safely, each team member must do his or her part and help each other
out,” said Sullivan. “If everyone does his job, helps the others out,
and is aware of the task at hand, the boat will survive along with
everyone in it. On a team, be it a corporate team or a sports team, if
everyone is focused on their job, helps each other, and is aware of
the mission, that team will gain success. As a coach, my job is to be
sure all the members know their job, to be sure they are in the right
position, and to be sure they are aware of the mission at hand.”
Ultimately, Sullivan said he is here to teach and
help his swimmers become as successful as they can be. So far the
mutual respect and admiration have been apparent between coach and
team members, and Sullivan could not be more pleased with the members
of his Austin College swimming family.
“All of the swimmers have been great,” said
Sullivan. “They are all working hard to be the best they can be in the
classroom and in the pool. I enjoy talking to them, and they laugh at
all my jokes. Who could ask for more?”
Sullivan is a 1989 graduate of Texas A&M
University-Commerce, where he also earned his master’s degree in 1994.
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Football
The Austin College football team continues
making great strides in the second year of the Ronnie
Gage coaching era. After an early three-game slide, the ’Roos
won three straight games for the first time since the 2002 season.
Behind the strong rushing attack led by Ryan Cowley
’08 and Ross Hasten ’09, the ’Roos look to be headed
in the right direction to be a force in the SCAC in the near
future.
Women’s Soccer
Behind a strong defense led by JoDee
Williams ’10, Brooke Adams ’09,and Cari
Hubbard ’08, the ’Roos were a strong and competitive team
throughout the 2007 season, taking some of the top teams in the
SCAC right down to the wire and getting some big wins. With a
record of 5-4-3 overall, the ’Roos, led by coach Paul
Burns, have proven to be a formidable team in their second
season in the SCAC.
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team had a frustrating year in
2007, with the transition to new coach Mark Hudson’s
offensive and defensive systems a work-in-progress. Despite their
0-11-1 mark, the ’Roos have shown flashes of their potential and
what will be in store once they become more familiar with Hudson’s
highly technical coaching. With their strong defense and several
young scorers, the ’Roos look to be capable of making big strides
in 2008. Back to the Top |
 Marjory Gibson ’08 has
become one of the most dominant and decorated athletes in Kangaroo
athletics history. In addition to becoming the first Austin College
swimmer to win an individual title at the Liberal Arts Championships,
she earned the College’s first swimming and diving All-Conference
honor in the ’Roos first season as a member of the Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference.
She holds four program records and owns the fastest
1650 freestyle time ever recorded in Hannah Natatorium. Gibson’s
records include top times in the 200 freestyle, the 500freestyle, the
1000 freestyle, and the 1650 freestyle, all marks that she has topped
multiple times. She also has won the team’s Hannah Outstanding Female
Swimmer of the Year award in each of the past three seasons with
2007–2008 honors still to be determined.
However, all Gibson’s accolades and records came
close to never happening. She very nearly chose to end her swimming
career after high school and forego competing at the collegiate level.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to devote the time and
energy to swimming,” said Gibson. “I’ve been on some teams where
everyone was out for themselves and there wasn’t any sense of
community. However, I decided to try it. As soon as I began swimming
with the ’Roos, I had a support system. I came to Austin College not
knowing anyone. Coach Philip Wiggins (who left the College last
spring) was always very encouraging and the team was always ready to
help with anything.”
As a senior and the team’s leader, it falls to
Gibson to help ease the transition of new head coach Trey
Sullivan, who took over for Wiggins this fall.
“The transition to having Coach Sullivan has been
easier than I expected,” said Gibson. “He’s good about working with
all of the swimmers.”
Along with weathering the coaching change, Gibson
also has seen the ’Roosmake the switch from an independent swimming
and diving program to membership in the Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference, the first conference competition in the team’s history."
“It was odd not traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa,”
said Gibson of not taking part in the Liberal Arts Championship for
the first time in her career. “The SCAC meet was a lot of fun, though.
We were competing against teams we see more often.”
With all her achievements, Gibson still believes the
opportunity is there to reach greater heights, both individually and
as a team. “I keep pushing myself,” said the senior. “I always want to
swim faster than I have previously. I’m hoping our team can place
higher at the SCAC meet this season. Now that we have an idea of what
to expect in this conference, I think we’ll be better prepared. We
have a small but strong team this year with a lot of fresh talent, as
well as a lot of first-rate swimmers that are coming back strong.”
Despite all her accomplishments and her dominance at
Austin College, Gibson is humble when reflecting on her time as a
’Roo. When discussing her greatest accomplishments, she doesn’t point
to an individual honor or record, but instead focuses on the
tremendous overall experience that she very nearly missed.
“I’m most proud of having had the privilege to swim
with the Austin College team. I wasn’t sure I wanted to swim when I
came to college, but it has been one of the most rewarding experiences
of my life. My College experience would have been completely different
without swimming — it provides a way to work out stress as well as
stay physically fit. I love the challenge of trying to improve. I
don’t know what I would have done without it.”
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Mid-Season