Jerry Hoffman

Depth, youth and inexperence.
These are the words that can best describe the CMU women’s basektball team
as it begins the 2000-01 campaign.
“I don’t know if a lot of people know about us,” Head Coach Fran Voll said.
“We don’t have what you would call a star on this team so people are writing
us off.”
The Chippewas are picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference
West Division.
“We want to be a better team and a better program and this year we have
taken the steps to go in that direction,” Voll said.
Central only lost two starters from last season’s squad in center Shelly
Woods and guard Jodi Culbertson. Culbertson and Woods accounted for almost
26 points per game between them meaning the Chips will have to find more
scoring from the remaining three starters.
“Shelly and Jodi were really strong players for our program and will be
missed,” Voll said. “I see us getting scoring from other players starting
with the three returning starters.”
The trio of junior returnees include forward Vershaun Jones, guard Molli
Munz and forward Alicia Rozak.
“They don’t like being anything but successful so we expect a lot out of
these three,” Voll said.
Jones brings rebounding and dependability to the team. Last season she hauled
in 258 boards for a 9.2 per game average, putting her just 212 away from
breaking into the top 10 in the Chippewa record book.
Munz comes into the season just 36 three-pointers away from being tops in
school history. She made 64 shots from downtown last season, including a
.405 shooting percentage from three point range.
Rozak was third on the team in scoring last year overall with an 11.3 points
per game average. She led the Chippewas in scoring during MAC games upping
her average to 13.4.
With three starting positions down that leaves only a guard and a center
to round out the group.
Tara Petrie transferred from Oregon midway through last season and was redshirted
should provide depth at the guard position. However, Petrie had minor knee
surgery and will miss the first exhibition game. She is expected to return
in 7-10 days.
Rerturning from last season are sophomores Desiree Eidson, Abby Lawinger
and Laurie Henderson.
Eidson was the top reserve for the Chippewas last season and should she
a considerable amount of playing time, according to Voll.
Redshirt freshman Beth Kindel rounds out the returning Chippewas. Mandy
Elwer, Kasey Kraft, Raina Harmon, Christy Heintz and Jill Williams round
out the recruiting class.
“Aside from the three starters no one has a set role on this team,” Voll
said. “There is a tremendous amount of competition for playing time right
now and that’s very refreshing.”

E-mail the author: Paul P. AdamsLIFE Sports Writer