The volleyball team at Trinity Valley Community College had a memorable 2012-13 semester in more ways than one.
In the fall, Coach Tosha Spain’s squad made school history by qualifying for the regional tournament for the first time in the three-year history of the program.
Tuesday night at the third annual TVCC Sports Banquet, the Lady Cardinals were awarded the Cardinal Cup — the prize for a fall/spring semester-long competition in which the college’s athletic department teams/groups are awarded points for supporting each other and for community service.
The Lady Cardinals edged out the football team by the closest margin in the three-year history of the competition, scoring 606 points for a 34-point winning margin. The football team had 572 points and the softball team was a distant third with 261.
Community service played a big role in the Lady Cardinals’ raising the Cardinal Cup at the banquet. They logged 700 hours of giving back to the community.
“I am proud of the girls for winning (the Cardinal Cup),” Spain said. “They have been doing community service every week since September and have constantly been at other sports’ games supporting their fellow student-athletes.
“The girls love helping the community and attending all the other events on campus.”
As busy as they stayed, Spain said she was especially proud the Lady Cardinals were able to maintain a 3.25 GPA.
“They are an amazing group of girls on and off the court and continue to make me a better person and coach every day.”
The Cardinal Cup, which began in the 2010 fall semester, is designed as a competition to help encourage student-athletes and other organizations at the college to become more involved and the events that take place on campus, not just athletic events. The program was implemented to create a supportive and active fan base of TVCC students to visibly and vocally support performing groups.
In addition to the volleyball, football and softball teams, groups participating in the competition this year were the men’s and women’s basketball teams, cheerleaders and athletic training staff.
The cheerleaders won the inaugural Cardinal Cup in 2011 and the athletic training staff finished first last year.
Here are the final Cardinal Cup standings for 2013:
Volleyball – 606 points
Football – 572 points
Softball – 261 points
Women’s Basketball – 150 points
Cheerleaders– 90 points
Men’s Basketball – 54 points
Trainers – 26 points
The Cardinal Cup trophy is on permanent display in the lobby at Cardinal Gym with the name of the winning group engraved each year.
Arkansas State head women’s basketball coach Brian Boyer announced Tuesday that Aaron Kallhoff has joined the Red Wolves coaching staff as an assistant coach.
Kallhoff joins the staff after spending the previous season as an assistant coach at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens where he helped coach the Lady Cardinals to their seventh National Junior College Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Championship. TVCC finished the year with a 36-1 record.
There has been an increased interest in women’s basketball over the last few seasons which has led to more women wanting to be players. In fact, there is some rise in basketball equipment sales – people start buying things like swimming pool basketball hoops more! This is good news as it means more females are exposed to this sport which has been increasing in popularity. More fans are choosing to go to games, deciding to visit female Fantasy Basketball websites and invest their time in the sport. It is hoped that a few of the Red Wolves women will go on to play professionally.
“I’m looking forward to having Aaron join our staff,” Boyer said. “It is obvious when you look at his coaching track record that his teams have been very successful wherever he has been. Aaron is very well connected across the country, which will help our program in recruiting. I have talked to a lot of coaches about Aaron and everyone has nothing but great things to say about him. He is also going to be very valuable to our program because of his passion for developing players. During the short time that I’ve known him he has really impressed me with his enthusiasm and you cannot help but be excited when you are around him.”
Prior to his time at Trinity Valley Community College, Kallhoff spent fours at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas, where he served as the head coach of the Lady Rebels. In his first year he coached Hill College to a conference runner-up finish and helped the Lady Rebels advance to the Region V Tournament. He was named the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference Co-Coach of the Year in his final season at Hill College and led the Lady Rebels to the Region V semifinals. The 2011-12 squad finished 27-5 and was co-conference champions. Kallhoff was named as one of the nation’s top and up coming Junior College Coaches by Women’s Basketball Insider publication.
In his time at Hill, Kallhoff coached three All-Americans, four All-Region V selections, 16 NTJCAC All-Conference selections, one NTJCAC Player of the Year, two NTJCAC Defensive Players of the Year and one NTJCAC Freshman of the Year. His teams were also named Academic All-American teams on three separate occasions.
He spent one season serving as the head women’s basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Allen County Community College in Iola, Kan., prior to his time at Hill College where the Red Devils achieved a 3.1 overall team grade point average under his tenure. He also coached a player to a Jayhawk East All-Conference selection.
Kallhoff also spent time as the men’s assistant basketball at Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kan., where the Saints made the Region VI tournament and had every sophomore move on to a four-year university, with three signing with Division I institutions.
“I am really looking forward to working with Coach Boyer and being a part of the ASU family,” Kallhoff said. “It is a privilege and honor to be a part of the tradition at Arkansas State. I am extremely excited about the upcoming season and opportunity for the Red Wolves.”
After graduating from college, Kallhoff spent three years as the men’s assistant basketball coach at Allen County. From 2003-06, he helped lead the Allen County basketball program to two berths in the Region VI Tournament. In his three seasons, Kallhoff coached four Jayhawk East All-Conference selections, two NJCAA All-Region VI picks and one JUCO All-American.
“I’ve been very pleased with our teams progress during this post-season,” Boyer said. “All of our returning players have shown a great deal of commitment to improving during the off-season. I am convinced that this team has a chance to be very good next year. Because of this, it was very important that I hire the right person to help us maximize our team’s potential for next year.”
A native of Norfolk, Neb., Kallhoff’s career as a player began in 1998, when he was tabbed the Northeast Nebraska High School Player of the Year at Norfolk Catholic High School.
He began his collegiate career at Iowa Central Community College where he led the NJCAA Division II Iowa Region in three-point field goal percentage. In 2000, he earned All-Region IX athletic and academic honors at Northeast Nebraska Community College after averaging 14 points per game.
After Northeast, Kallhoff spent a redshirt season at Southern Utah, where the team advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. He completed his playing career at Bemidji State where he was a two-year starter, and in his senior season led the nation (NCAA Division II) in assist/turnover ratio.
In 2003, Kallhoff graduated from Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minn., earning a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with an emphasis in public relations, advertising and electronic media. While at Bemidji State, he represented the university as a chairman for the Special Olympics and the United Way Foundation. Additionally, Kallhoff was involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Kallhoff and his wife, Josie, have a five-year-old daughter, Camden, and a seven-month old son, Caylix.
Nominations for the 2013 induction class for the Cardinal Hall of Fame are currently being accepted at Trinity Valley Community College. The nomination deadline is Monday, May 6.
The hall of fame, created in 2008, is a recognition program designed to honor former student athletes, coaches and contributors to the athletic department who have exhibited exceptional ability and performance in their selected field of athletics and have represented TVCC in an exemplary manner.
To be considered for the honor, nominees must meet the following eligibility requirements:
Participation for at least one year as a player on an intercollegiate athletics team at TVCC or five years as a coach at TVCC. (Exception: The five-year requirement for a coach is waived if coach won a national championship); and
A period of at least five years between last date at TVCC as a full-time student-athlete or coach. (Exception: The period of at least five years between the last date at TVCC as a coach is waived upon retirement); and
Must commit to attending induction ceremony/events upon being notified of selection to Hall of Fame. If unable to commit, selection will be withdrawn and considered in the future.
As many as five nominees from 1970-to-present will be selected for induction and as many as two from prior to 1970.
To date, 35 and the 1989 cheerleading squad have been inducted into the shrine.
Nomination forms are available at the Athletic Office, located in Cardinal Gym. Nominations are also being accepted online. The 2013 induction class will be selected in the summer and the induction ceremony is scheduled Saturday, Oct. 19.
For more information, contact Benny Rogers at 903-675-6322.
Shelby Ballenger, shown here at a holiday concert earlier this year, will be one of five music majors featured May 28 during the Trinity Valley Community College Music Department’s final concert of the school year. (JENNIFER HANNIGAN/TVCC)
By Jennifer Hannigan/TVCC Public Information
The Trinity Valley Community College Music Department is giving a few about-to-graduate sophomores a unique sort of sendoff.
When the college’s choir students take to the stage for the final concert of the season on April 28, those students will be standing in the spotlight.
The TVCC Music Department’s last concert of the 2012-13 school year will be at 3 p.m. at Dogwood Church in Athens. The concert is open to the public free of charge. Dogwood Church is located at 6467 Farm-to-Market Road 2494 in Athens.
This year’s final concert is titled, “A Choral Tapestry,” said Music Department Coordinator Dr. Byron McGilvray.
“We have a great group of music majors about to graduate,” said McGilvray. “And we started thinking about we could enhance their marketability as they move on and also how we could reward them. These students have worked amazingly hard for the period of time they have been here.”
And so those five students – David Thrasher, Naomi Jorgensen, Robert Boren, Candace Clayburn and Shelby Ballenger – will be highlighted.
Thrasher, Jorgensen and Boren will be conducting numbers that they have chosen. The voice talents of Clayburn and Ballenger will be featured, again with numbers they have chosen to perform.
“They have selected and are rehearsing their own material. The product is theirs,” said McGilvray. “We wanted to highlight them and also to start a new tradition.”
The concert will feature a wide variety of music from numerous genres. McGilvray said everything from opera to folk music will be covered.
While this is the last concert the choir will feature for the school year, it is not the last time those sophomores will perform with their fellow students. The choir will be traveling with the Dixieland Band and the TVCC Brass Ensemble for a week in May. The group will be in Washington, D.C., and will be performing at the Jefferson Memorial and the Library of Congress, among other venues.
Saturday, they dropped a road doubleheader to Navarro, falling 5-3 and 3-2.
Sunday, Navarro and Kilgore split a doubleheader, meaning the Lady Cardinals qualified for the regional tournament for a third straight year. The regional tournament is scheduled May 2-5 in Corsicana.
The Lady Cardinals are scheduled to close the regular season at home Wednesday against Northeast Texas Community College. Action begins at 1 p.m.
Just over a week ago, the Lady Cardinals swept NE Texas 2-1 and 8-3.
Against Navarro, Chyna Phipps went 2-for-4 in Game 1. She drove in a run. Celeste Montoya went 1-for-2.
In the second game, Chantelle Whitehead was 2-for-3 with a RBI. Montoya also went 2-for-3. Candise Wise was 2-for-4 with a RBI and stolen base.
The Lady Cardnals are 29-22 on the year and 9-9 in conference. They are one win away from the first 30-win season in school history.
SPORTS BANQUET
The third annual sports banquet is scheduled Tuesday at Athens Country Club. It will begin at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door.
The public is invited.
FOOTBALL
The annual spring football game is scheduled Saturday at Bruce Field. Action will begin at 10 a.m.
Tuesday night at the third annual TVCC Sports Banquet, the Lady Cardinals were awarded the Cardinal Cup — the prize for a fall/spring semester-long competition in which the college’s athletic department teams/groups are awarded points for supporting each other and for community service.
