ASC Volleyball alumni scrimmage set for Saturday night

Friendships were renewed at the 2009 Alumni Match and are sure to be done again Saturday.

ALAMOSA, Colo.— A dozen of a "Who’s Who" in the history of Adams State College volleyball history will return to campus this weekend while helping the 2010 edition of the Grizzlies prepare for the upcoming season as head coach Lindy Mortensen and her squad will host the program’s third annual alumni scrimmage Saturday evening in Plachy Hall.  First serve is set for 6 p.m. and admission is free.

The Grizzlies' 2010 host families will be introduced at the intermission.

Those that cannot attend the scrimmage can view it online with a season-pass or single match subscription through B2 Networks.

The alumni team will include 12 players, who played for the Grizzlies as far back as 1997.  The group will have an opportunity to practice Friday evening, meet the 2010 squad at a Saturday morning brunch in Plachy Hall before enjoying the Grizzlies’ season-opening football game on Saturday afternoon.  In addition to being a tremendous opportunity for the alumni players to renew old friendships, they will be helping to prepare the 2010 edition of the Grizzlies for their season-opening tournament just one week later in Omaha, Neb.

Hard at work for close to a fortnight, the Grizzlies are just as ready for the alumni team’s challenge and in the case of some of the veterans, a chance to play against former teammates and even an assistant coach.

The following is a list of the alumni members expected to compete:

• Monica Ashley (Garcia): Now a mother of two daughters, the former 2-time Second Team All-RMAC setter during her 2000-04 career has returned to her hometown of Albuquerque along with her husband, Charles Ashley, also a 2005 ASC graduate. She recorded 3,489 assists during her Grizzly career and helped lead the 2003 team to the RMAC West Division title.  She also played basketball for one season with the Grizzlies.

• Kallee Bingham: A member of the 2004 and 2005 Grizzly teams and a 2006 ASC graduate, Bingham is teaching fourth grade in her hometown of Mesa, Ariz., and is engaged to be married to Tyler Molesworth.

• Emily Bussey: A native of Alamosa, she continues to live in Las Vegas, Nev., where she is a personal trainer.  She graduated from ASC in 2007 after her 2002-06 Grizzly career that saw her earn Honorable Mention All-RMAC accolades in 2005 and helping the Grizzlies win the 2003 RMAC West Division crown.

• Amy Cousin: Without a doubt one of the top players in ASC’s history, Cousin, now a virtual elementary teacher for the Nevada Virtual Academy, is one of just of a few ASC players to earn a pair of First Team All-RMAC honors.  Also tabbed as a Daktronics All-Region pick as a senior in 2003, she tallied an incredible 928 kills and 263 blocks while leading the Grizzlies in 2002 and 2003, two of the better seasons in Grizzly history, after transferring from Ricks College, now known as BYU-Idaho.  She and her husband David, who shared RMAC Honor Student Athlete Awards in 2003-04, live in Henderson, Nev. with her two children.

• Lisa Crowder: Another native of Alamosa, Crowder continues to serve as an elementary school teacher at Sargent and as head coach of the Farmers’ volleyball team. A Grizzly player from 1998-2002, she earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors as a senior and then served as the Grizzlies' assistant coach in 2003 and later as the interim head coach during the spring of 2004 before Mortensen was hired to lead the program.

• Sandy Dutton (Hotz & Wilcox): Now the director of nursing for the San Luis Care Center in Alamosa, she earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors in 1999 and is just one of three setters in ASC history to record 3,000 or more assists.  Tallying 3,433 in her 1997-2000 career, she is also the mother of five children and is married to Robert Dutton.

• Jocelyn Garcia: The younger of the Garcia sisters, she is a third grade teacher for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nev. She earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors as a senior in 2005 and was a member of the 2003 RMAC West Division title team as well.

• Megan Martinez: Another Alamosa native, she graduated from ASC in December, 2008 and is a physical education and health teacher for the Yuma School District and is in her first year as the varsity head coach for the Yuma High School Indians. She played for Mortensen during the 2006 and 2007 seasons after transferring from Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, where she also played for two years.

• Brittany Muchmore: A 2009 ASC graduate, Muchmore served as Mortensen's assistant coach during the 2008 season and is now living close to home as a case manager for a law firm in Phoenix.  Playing for the Grizzlies from 2004-07, she earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors as a senior in 2007 and was a member of the Grizzlies' first of two straight RMAC Tournament semifinal teams.

• Tanesha Steadham: She played for the Grizzlies from 1999-2002 and earned Second Team All-RMAC honors in both 2000 and 2001. Following college, she coached at Columbine High School for two years and is now employed as a respiratory assistant the oxygen by Schryver Medical Company.

• Tiffany (Stockebrand) Hawkins: An Alamosa native, she earned a pair of Second Team All-RMAC honors in 2005 and 2006 and set the ASC record for single-match kills in her final career match.  A 2007 ASC graduate, she continues to reside in Alamosa with her two children and husband Andrew, a former ASC football players and works as an estimator for Asphalt Constructors, Inc.

• Amy (Wilcox) Ortega: Now the dean of students at Alamosa High School, where she graduated from, she recently gave up her coaching duties for the Mean Moose after guiding the team to more than 100 wins in nine years.  After transferring from Colorado College, she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degree from ASC and is the mother of three. Her husband, José, also is an ASC graduate and teaches and coaches football at AHS as well.

• Alumni Team Coach Andy Rice: The new assistant coach for the Grizzlies this fall, Rice will coach the alumni team against her boss and mother-in-law (Mortensen) and the team he has been working with for the last two weeks.   Rice, a former club player at the University of Colorado, was the head varsity coach at Pagosa Springs High School for the previous five years.