Kari Blankenship

Kayla Huesgen

“They’re good kids and they deserve the success they’ve had,” Dutchgirl volleyball coach Dwayne Clingman said. “Between them (Kari and Kayla), their work ethic is phenomenal and they’re very dedicated to the game of volleyball.”

Maryville University in St. Louis has left the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) and will join the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) in all sports beginning with the upcoming 2009-10 academic year.

Blankenship will seek to build on her two years of volleyball as an ECC Lady Falcon under head coach Brad Bruns. She helped ECC to their first NJCAA National Tournament berth during her sophomore season.

“I’m so proud of Kari as to how far she has come along in the last two years here at East Central College,” ECC Volleyball Coach Brad Bruns said. “She helped put our program on the map and will help Maryville in the middle as the make the jump to (NCAA) Division II volleyball.”

Before Blankenship ended her career at ECC, she earned the National Alliance of Two Year College Administrators (NATYCAA) Scholar Athlete Honorable Mention Award.

She was also honored for her play on the court by earning National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XVI All-Region and Midwest Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) All-Conference Honorable Mention nods. Kari will also be named an NJCAA Academic All-American later this summer.

“She works hard and deserves everything she had gotten so far,” Clingman said. “She’s dedicated to the game and will help Maryville make the transition to Division II.”

While at Maryville, Blankenship will major in Secondary Education with an emphasis on history. After graduation from Maryville, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in Sport Management.

“She was one of the hardest workers that I had the pleasure of coaching,” Former Dutchgirl volleyball coach Carrie Read said. “She was a silent leader and had one of the best attitudes out of all the athletes I coached.”

After six years in Owensville orange and black, Huesgen will be in the red and black as a Maryville Saint in St. Louis.

“Besides Kari (Blankenship) and volleyball, their occupational therapy program is what helped me decide to go to Maryville,” Former Dutchgirl Kayla Huesgen said.

Coaching her for six years, Clingman will miss Huesgen’s work ethic and her setting abilities.

“Kayla is probably the hardest working kid I’ve ever had at Owensville,” Clingman said. “Having the setting position nailed down for nearly two and a half years, it will be tough to replace that this fall.”