Falcons hire new volleyball coach
Chaparral assistant replaces co‑coaches
by Jason Stone

CAVE CREEK – After a season of using co‑head coaches, the Cactus Shadows volleyball team will return to a single coach with last week’s hire of former Chaparral assistant Tom Gardner.

The Falcons picked Gardner to replace last year’s tandem of Michelle Drechsler and Shawnee Smith, who shared head coaching duties.

Drechsler announced a move earlier in the spring to Colorado Springs, Colo., to teach and possibly coach. Smith left the team to spend more time with her family.

Gardner comes to Cactus Shadows after helping out the Chaparral program, which went 35‑12 in 2006 and entered the 4A‑Division I state tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Firebirds won the state championship in 2005.

He inherits a proud volleyball program started earlier in the decade by former coach Karen Sitkiewicz, who now coaches at Phoenix College. Cactus Shadows won two state championships in a three‑year span under Sitkiewicz (2003 and 2005) and the Falcons also went deep in the state tournament in 2004.

When Sitkiewicz departed for PC before the 2006 season, she handed over a talented team to Drechsler and Smith. But a series of serious injuries killed the team’s chances from repeating their state championship of ’05.

The team struggled to gain momentum because of an ever‑changing lineup and finished with a 23‑17 record after going 39‑5 the year before.

Cactus Shadows lost six seniors from last year–including five who had major playing time. One of the big losses is Sara Pages, who Drechsler said graduated with 12 varsity letters, the most in Cactus Shadows history.

However, the Falcons were loaded with juniors last year and Gardner could have up to 10 incoming seniors to choose from next season.

Drechsler said incoming senior Sammy Geiger is already being recruited by the University of Arizona and other seniors to watch include Kaley Hickman and Shannon Mikan, the granddaughter of former NBA Hall‑of‑Famer George Mikan.

“He will definitely still have a lot of talent on the team,” Drechsler said.

Drechsler is taking time off coaching after having shoulder surgery to repair a torn biceps tendon suffered during practice last year.

“My body just doesn’t want to do that anymore,” said Drechsler, who will be teaching on a military base at Ft. Carson Middle School in Colorado Springs.