Hornet Volleyball Is Building Momentum Under New Coach

After taking over a team that lost 25 of its 29 games last season, Emporia State volleyball coach Ken Murczek knew expectations for his first Hornets squad would be measured by incremental improvements more than giant leaps. Daily progress would matter.

But after this season’s first 10 games, Murczek has guided ESU to a 7-3 record, which includes a split of its first two Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association matches, on the strength of a rebuilt roster and several talented international players. Qualifying for the MIAA postseason tournament, Murczek believes, is an attainable goal.

“I'm one of the one-percenters that wake up and the sun comes up in my world every day,” he said. “I ask my players to do the same. I tell them that to play in this program, you get to, you don't have to.”

Murczek, from Chicago, arrived at ESU with a resume filled with experience across the spectrum of intercollegiate athletics. He’s been a head coach at Wake Forest, North Texas and, most recently, Oregon Tech, and served as an assistant coach at Kansas, Virginia, Western Michigan, San Diego State and Purdue.

He replaced longtime coach Bing Xu, who spent 20 years with the Hornets, including 18 as their head coach. Xu resigned after leading the Hornets to a 297-238 record, making him the fifth-winningest volleyball coach in MIAA history, and five NCAA Division II tournament appearances.

Tepid expectations for the 2023 Hornets weren’t limited to the public. In the MIAA’s preseason coaches poll, ESU was ranked 10th in the 11-team conference. Murczek admits that righting the course of a program that’s posted seven consecutive losing seasons and three straight with single-digit wins isn’t a simple task. “If the wheel is already rolling, you just add another spoke,” he said, “versus, if it’s not, you need to figure out how to start the engine. But I've kind of made a career out of this.”

Every program rebuild is different, Murczek said. Schools and their student-athletes don’t share cookie-cutter demographics, and adapting coaching and recruiting styles for each campus is vital. At ESU, Murczek has prioritized the need for the Hornets to claim ownership of their individual development and be grateful for the opportunity of playing Division II athletics at a high level.

Led by junior Sandora Sasaki, a junior from Kawasaki, Japan, the Hornets won their first three games and their MIAA opener against Fort Hays State. Sasaki, who played the previous two seasons at Salt Lake City Community College, has a team-high 142 kills and earned an MIAA offensive athlete of the week award in early September. “When she hits the ball, it sounds different,” Murczek said. “She has an arm that is impressive, to say the least, and she's had over 10 kills in every match we've played. She's the real deal.”

Sasaki isn’t the Hornets’ only standout. Brailee Bogle, a freshman setter from Wichita, already has 318 assists, and junior-college transfer Anakaren Chavez, a defensive specialist from Laredo, Texas, has anchored ESU’s back row. Those three, along with the Hornets’ senior class, will have a say in whether the Hornets make postseason play.

“I don't think it's going to be easy, but based on what I've witnessed since we started six weeks ago and what I've watched of our competition, we've got some pieces that are going to lend itself to doing well,” Murczek said. “I'm encouraged.”

The Hornets’ next match is Friday, Sept. 22, at Central Missouri. Their next home match is Friday, Sept. 29, against Northwest Missouri.

Visit 2023 Women's Volleyball Schedule - Emporia State University Athletics (esuhornets.com) for the full season schedule of matches.