2016 fall preview: A-Z

A- Ashley Jehlicka (Volleyball): Junior Ashley Jehlicka will be returning to the squad after being medically red-shirted her sophomore year. As a setter, Jehlicka (Salem, Wis) contributes crucial blocks, assists and dominating kills to her team. During her freshman year, Jehlicka led the NCAA with eight triple-doubles and also had the team best with 23 double-doubles. She was named American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region Freshman of the Year, as well as All-Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Freshman of the Year and All-NACC First Team honors as a setter.

B- Beginning from Scratch: With the start of the new school year also brings the start of the fall sports season. This fall brings the usual sports such as football, soccer, volleyball, cross country, tennis and golf; but also two new sports to CUW. Joining our sports roster are Triathlon and Field Hockey.

C- Crowded Fields: With the addition of the two new sports this season the fields are getting crowded. Fitting Field is home to both soccer teams in the fall, as well as both lacrosse teams in the spring. With the addition of Field Hockey, the soccer field is going to have another team to call its turf home this season.

D- Defending Their Titles (Women's Tennis): The Women's Tennis team is looking defend their multiple titles from last season. They took home both the NACC regular season championship and the Tournament championship. This was the first time in school history for this achievement. Bringing home awards from the season were Ashley Solberg (Waukesha, Wis.) with Freshman of the Year and head coach Steve Anschutz with Coach of the Year. The women return to the court to hopefully have a repeat of last season.

E- Eager to Win Again (Men and Women's Soccer): Both the Falcons soccer teams are eager to claim the NACC Championship yet again. Last season the men's team had a 15-3-1 record and the women posted a 14-2-3 record. The men's team graduated a couple of seniors last season, but enter the 2016 season with some great young talent. The women's team has great senior leadership leading into the fall season. Watch out for both teams as they work hard to repeat their conference championships.

F- Field Frenzy (Field Hockey): Up and coming this fall to CUW is our Field Hockey team. Coaching the team will be Samantha Landis, who will be leading a young team but has a few veterans from other programs will join her team as well. With the closest opponent being in Indiana, the team is looking to spend lots of quality time on the road. Over the season the team will travel a total of 11,503 miles and 178 hours. In that time they could listen to 3,051 songs or watch 92 movies. When the team isn't traveling they will call Fitting Field home. We look forward to seeing how our new addition does in their season.

G- Gavin Falotico (Men's Soccer): As a freshman last year, Falotico helped lead the team to its first NACC regular season title. As a key member of the Falcons defense, Falotico (Palatine, Ill.) was chosen as the NACC Co-Defensive Player of the Year as well as their Freshman of the Year. In addition, he was also selected to the All-NACC First Team and the All-NACC Freshman team. The awards don't stop there, Falotico was also chosen as an NSCAA All-Region pick landing on second team. As all the sports came to an end, the Athletic Department named him Male Athlete of the Year. Falotico's abilities are a great asset to the team in their hopes to earn another NACC title.

H- Homecoming Holiday: On November 5th fans are needed at Tomasini Stadium as the Falcon football team hosts Rockford at 1 pm for a homecoming showdown. Come out and support your Falcons as well as enjoy the homecoming festivities, which include the Hall of Fame induction honors for the 2006 team that went undefeated and advanced to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

I- In the Air (Football): In the past few years the Falcon football team has been averaging almost 300 yards a game through the air. Junior Aaron Nixon is partly to thank for that. In his sophomore year, Nixon (North Prairie, Wis.) threw for a total of 2,760 passing yards. He averaged 276 yards a game and had 32 touchdowns overall (24 passing). He set the single season record for completions with 260 and this fall he will lead his team as the penciled-in starting quarterback.

J- Josie Dombrowsi (Women's Soccer): Coming into her sophomore year, Josie Dombrowski will be a defensive player to watch for. As a freshman, Dombrowski was named NACC Freshman of the year. In addition, she was named First Team All-NCAA as was a member of the NACC All-Freshman team. Dombrowski (Bartlett, Ill.) started and played in 18 matches helping support a defense that gave up only 15 goals in the 2015 season. She was also an asset when the defense helped shut out opponents nine times.

K- Karina Klotz (Volleyball): Returning for her final season is one of two seniors on the team, Karina Klotz. As a freshman, Klotz (Hubertus, Wis.) was named a part of the All-NACC Freshman team. Last season she had double-figure assists in every match and 20 or more in 14 of those matches. As one of the senior leaders, Klotz will hopefully lead her team to a successful season.

L- Lengthy Road Trip (Football): The Football team starts out the season with a lengthy road trip to Finlandia University in Hancock, Mich., on Saturday September 3rd to face off against the Lions. The Falcons have four other away games during the regular season.

M- Megan Reddersdorf (Women's Golf): As a freshman, Reddresdorf helped her team win consecutive NACC Championships. Reddersdorf (Marengo, Ill.) competed in seven events and 11 rounds averaging a 95.7 last season and ended the season with a 91 against Edgewood. With Reddersdorf being one of two seniors, she will have to take leadership over a young team and show them the ropes.

N- Nikolai, Greg (Men's and Women's Golf Coach): Greg Nikolai was hired as the Men and Women's head golf coach in February of 2016. This school year will start his first fall season with both teams. Last spring he was able to work with both teams, helping them prepare for the upcoming fall season. Nikolai will be taking over programs that have had much success in the past, which has won NACC titles.

O- Olkiewicz, Haley (Women's Golf): Junior Haley Olkiewicz will be returning as one of many upperclassmen on the team. As a freshman Olkiewicz (Oshkosh, Wis) competed in a team-high eight events and 13.5 rounds. She averaged 100.6 and had a season-low of 93 at the Lake Forest dual to take fourth place. In her sophomore season Olkiewicz was named All-NACC after finishing 10th at the Championship after competing in nine events and a team-high 14 rounds. She had an average of 97.9 and season low round of 99.

P- Palmreuter, Faith (Women's Soccer): As a freshman, Palmreuter scored six goals and had five assists for a total of 17 points. During her sophomore season she started in all 20 matches and was a key member of the defense. Her junior year she was named NACC Defensive Player of the Year. She was also named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of American/Continental Tire All-Central region Second team and was a part of the All-NACC First Team selection.

Q- Questions?: Tune into the CUWFalcons.com for weekly Q&A's with coaches and players and find out their thoughts and reactions on their previous and future games and get to know more about your Falcon student-athletes.

R- Russ DeLap (Men and Women's Cross Country Coach): Russ DeLap is the head coach for both of CUW's cross country teams. These two teams have great success under the coaching of DeLap. He will be going into his ninth season with the teams as the 2016 season starts. He has won five Coach of the Year awards since 2007, two of them being for both men and women's teams in 2011. In 2011 DeLap coached both teams to NACC Championships. The men's team won the title, while the women's team placed four runners in the top 11 and took the championship.

S- Saleska, Tom (Men's Soccer Coach): Head Coach Tom Saleska will be entering his 24th season as the Men's Soccer coach starting this season. He led the team to a league championship in 2015 and has reached 289 career victories with the Falcons. He was named NACC Coach of the Year for the 2015 season.

T- Triple Threat (Women's Triathlon): The second addition to our fall sports roster is Triathlon. The team will be coached by Andrew Shanks and behind him is a diverse team that will bring different assets to the season. The team starts their season August 27th at Life Time Tri Maple Grove in Minnesota and end their season in November at the Collegiate Triathlon National Championship.

U- Unknowns Are Known (Women's Tennis): Returning to the team this year is a full roster of veteran players that have accomplished much with the Women's Tennis program. Last season sophomore Bailey Kelly set the single season record with 24 singles victories, senior Michaela Wagner tied for second with 20. Kelly (Racine, Wis.) set the singles season record for winning percentage as well. Wagner (Oswego, Ill.) is third all-time in career doubles wins with 44, while 63 is the number to beat and with a successful season hopefully she can move into first place in career doubles wins.

V- Vigorous Schedule (Men's Golf): The men's golf team has a busy schedule ahead of them as they start their 2016 season. Starting off the season they have back-to-back all day competitions at Edgewood Culver's Fall Invitational September 2-3. They have a very packed schedule in the course of a month. The team will be competing in 16 matches over a six week period ending with their final competition on October 11th at the NACC Championship.

W- Wide Receiver Rally (Football): Behind the quarterback, leading the Falcons offense this year are wide receivers, include seniors Dante Edwards and Derrick Estfan. Edwards (Glendale Ariz.) and Estfan (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the team in receiving. Last season Edwards racked up a total of 417 yards and one touchdown and Estfan had 473 yards and eight touchdowns. With both players graduating after this season the team will have to rely on the talent of the other wide receivers to gain experience and prepare themselves for more of the work load in the future.

X- X's and O's: Coaches stress the importance of X's and O's, teamwork and winning, but they also stress the importance of academics. The members of the CUW athletic teams are students first and athletes second. With the responsibilities of both academics and athletics on their plates our student-athletes work overtime to make sure they have a balance of both.

Y- Young Talent: With the fall season starting it brings fresh, new talent to the teams as well as the returning talent from last year. With the teams being diverse in age it's on the upperclassmen to take charge of their teams and help out the inexperienced faces. But the new talent on the teams can be great assets, as they bring something new to contribute and different perspectives to their teams. This fall season watch for up-and-coming talent as they could be the face of the team in a few years.

Z- Zzzzzzz: Don't sleep on any of your Falcon fall sports teams as all have the talent and potential to make runs at conference titles this fall.