'99-00 SCHEDULE

Dec. 3 -- at Jamestown       6 -- Mercer       8 -- Farrell       13 -- Wilmington       16 -- at Sharpsville       20 -- at Reynolds       22 -- at Greenville       28-30 -- at Brookfield Tournament Jan. 5 -- at Mercer       8 -- at Oil City       10 -- at Wilmington       13 -- Reynolds       15 -- Franklin,3:30       17 -- Sharpsville       20 -- at Slippery Rock       31 -- at Sharon Feb. 3 -- Grove City       7 -- Slippery Rock       10 -- Meadville       14 -- Villa Maria       17 -- Sharon       21 -- at Grove City

By The Herald Sports Staff

Coach Jeanette Whitehead is "very optimistic" entering the season, her fourth at the Hornette helm.

Whitehead has good reason for the anticipation, because this appears to be one of the most promising pre-seasons she has been involved in. Her competitors have picked her squad as the league favorite. Whitehead feels the same.

"As far as favorites," she said. "It's difficult to say, but certainly I wouldn't want to count us out this year.

"I think our league will be very competitive," Whitehead admitted. "There is a lot of parity in the league so I think we can expect a lot of games to basically be decided in the last minute."

"However," she continued, "we put in a lot of time in the offseason and if the summer is any indication, then I really expect a great season."

Her confidence is not unfounded though. The Hornettes, after losing a considerable amount of experience in Jill Miller (174 points) Katie DeMaria (71) and Sarah Viselli (139), are returning six letterwinners to the squad, yet only two are seniors.

One of those, Cristy Gustas, had a steller season last year. The 5-7 guard/forward earned MCAC AAA first team honors and made second team in The Herald's "Fabulous 5" in 1999. As a junior, Gustas led the team with an average of 12.2 points per game with 8.1 rebounds. She also recorded 52 assists and 38 steals.

April Deitsch, a 5-5 senior, followed Gustas with 213 points, nearly nine points per game.

"As far as my seniors, I have high expectations for both of them," Whitehead said. "They're both three-year letterwinners with a great deal of potential. Their leadership alone should carry us a long way. They're great leaders on and off the court. All the girls look up to them and show them a tremendous amount of respect."

Other returning letterwinners, each one juniors, include Melissa Cominos, a 5-6 guard, 5-8 swingman Brianne Kornbau, forward Julie Geletka who comes in at 5-6, Shayna Marks, a 5-4 guard, and forward Rachel Gilliland who tops off the Hickory squad at 5-10.

"I would consider (height) to be one of our weaknesses," offered Whitehead, "because I look at someone like Sharon who's tall overall and our average is around 5-6, 5-7, but still that's the tallest we've been."

She added, "Since we really didn't get all that much taller in a year we really have to try to focus on the fundamentals of basketball by boxing out and limiting our opponents to one shot and keeping our turnovers to a minimum.

"Our strength is probably going to be in our speed this year," Whitehead commented. "We work well as a team. Our Œteam continuity' is a big plus. I have a group of kids that work hard and very well together.

Whitehead feels there is strong competition for playing time at each position.

Among those are juniors Megan Martuccio and Kristi Woge, both 5-4 guards, and 5-1 guard Carol Trumbo. Also aiming for playing time are sophomores Jayne Antel and Colleen Gottuso. Antel is a 5-6 guard and Gottuso is a 5-8 forward.

Whitehead's optimism has its limits, though not many.

"There are some little things that still need ironed out," she said. "I think that the league itself is going to be very competitive. Sharon, Grove City and Slippery Rock are all well-coached teams and I'm sure when the time comes they will all be prepared."

Assisting Whitehead this season will be jayvee coach Bruce Bittler, plus Gary Swanson, Rick Gottuso and Ralph Odem.