"This year’s team is a competitive squad with amazing energy. Our team is a unique mix of returning players and newcomers that complement each other perfectly. We have been in the gym for one short week, and during that time we have gelled as a team very quickly. The energy of this team is unlike any team I have ever coached. We are fierce competitors with hearts for Christ and true servanthood in all that we do. We have a fresh attitude, a new style, and we can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this season." - Head coach shasta millhollin
"Our biggest strength this season is our energy and relentless competitive spirit. We have spurts of pure greatness with our ball control, but we still have a lot of work to do to be consistent. Our goal is to strive to be in system as much as possible so that we can have freedom in our offense. We are locked in for long periods of time every practice focusing on ball control and accuracy. My biggest challenge coming in as a new coach this year is figuring out how to gain and maintain momentum in a very competitive conference with big travel demands. We have invested a lot of time this summer to create the best plan for this that we can." - shasta millhollin
key returners
christina tran
senior | setter | clovis, california
totaled 123 kills, 285 assists, 245 digs and 18 blocks in 2018, set a new career-high with 45 assists in a single match last September
jaalyn sotoa-stuebing
sophomore | middle blocker | San Diego, california
third on the team with 197 kills and second on the team with 50 total blocks as a freshman in 2018
sierra lebeau
senior | defensive specialist | sanger, california
led the team with 407 total digs in 2018, climbed into the top ten on fpu's single-season leaderboard for digs per set
the newcomers
key losses
carol bodziak
played in 105 of fpu's 111 sets last fall, finished second on the team with 225 kills
carley bock
played in 110 of fpu's 111 sets last fall, led the team with 349 kills
greta dobenecker
averaged 7.88 assists per set in 2018, 10th all-time in assists per set
madison pierce
played 100 sets for fpu last fall, totaled 187 kills
hannah miller
played in 78 sets for fpu in 2018, totaled 152 digs
the schedule
the preseason
the sunbirds were picked 10th in the pacwest preseason poll to start the season.
"We know that these kinds of polls are based on the past. everything about this team is brand new and totally different. we are pumped to show the pacwest what we are all about." - shasta millhollin
a new era
Shasta Millhollin was announced as the 7th head volleyball coach in program history in April of 2019. she spent the previous four seasons as the head coach at William Jessup University, where she served in multiple roles and is the winningest coach in program history.
After inheriting a program that went 1-25 the previous season, Millhollin led the Warriors to a total of 17 wins over her first two seasons. WJU continued to reach new heights over the next two years, setting a single-season program record with 18 wins in 2017 before tallying a record number of Golden State Athletic Conference victories the following fall.
Prior to her time at William Jessup, Millhollin worked as a graduate assistant coach at Arizona State University. A highly successful club coach in Arizona and California, Millhollin has led five teams to top-10 national rankings, and was named the East Valley Region Coach of the Year in 2010.
As a player, Millhollin was the starting setter at Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs and later Solano Community College in Fairfield, where she became the career leader in assists for the Bay Valley Conference. Millhollin completed her collegiate career at Notre Dame de Namur University, where she was voted the PacWest Conference Female Athlete of the Year.