In her final season of collegiate volleyball, a new coach and an already memorable season are coming together to remind Amber Ciskowski why she loves the game.
The Phoenix native, the only player remaining from the 1998 team that went 8-20, is enjoying a renewal of a once-proud ETSU program that’s in the thick of the Southern Conference regular-season title chase with a 10-3 league record and a 14-3 overall mark.
For this year’s success, the selfless Ciskowski gives much of the credit to her teammates and new head coach Deane Webb.
“He has brought in a lot of positive reinforcement,” she said of the coach’s effect on the team. “He brought back a love for the game.”
In addition to Webb’s mental approach, she has also benefited from his technical drills.
“I feel like I have become a better ball-handler,” said the senior hitter, this year playing on the right side as opposed to her former domain on the outside.
She’s also playing in a different position on the stat sheet, as well. While she’s not leading the Bucs in kills, as she did in 2000, her all-around game, leadership and, most importantly, consistency make hers a key role.
Keeping her play at an even-keel is of great concern to Ciskowski, but Webb has no problem banking on her for about nine kills, 10 or 11 digs, 1.4 blocks and three assists in any given match.
“I think she is a consistent player,” he said. “You generally know what you’re going to get.”
The Bucs might have gotten nothing, however, had it not been for a blessing in disguise.
Before a major showcase tournament in her senior year of high school, Ciskowski sprained an ankle, meaning the honorable mention all-state player went unseen by many of her would-be college coaches. Thus, the offers were not nearly as plentiful as she had first expected.
“For a while I wasn’t sure I was going to play volleyball,” she said.
Then came a trip to a land thousands of miles away, not only geographically, but culturally.
“I just had a really good experience,” said Ciskowski of her visit to ETSU, and she chose to extend her eastern excursion.
Recruited at the very same time was close friend and roommate Anastasia Dishong, an oft-injured player who quit the team right before the start of this year because of shoulder problems.
“She has always been a spiritual leader for all of us,” Ciskowski said of her friend, who remains close to the team, attending every home match.
Yet the one name which will be inextricably linked with Ciskowski’s class is team lynchpin and conference player-of-the-year candidate Carey Cavanaugh.
“She is the best setter,” Ciskowski said. “She has so much heart in the game.”
Both seniors also say they owe much to assistant coach Shannon Mincey, whom Ciskowski characterizes as “one of the greatest people I’ve ever met.
“She has such a good heart,” Ciskowski said. “She’s there to talk about anything.
Mincey said, “It’s real neat for me to be able to make a difference in their lives. Amber and Carey are just extremely special to me.”
Indeed, it will be difficult to leave the relationships Ciskowski has forged here when she graduates in December, having earned a degree in communications in just three-and-a-half years.
That separation may be assuaged by a return to her family on the West Coast for a while before she begins a career in public relations. Yet no solid plans exist for the 20-year-old.
“Everything in my life has been volleyball for so long,” she said, adding that “I would like to take a couple of months off” before entering the workforce.
Still, she’s not looking too far into the future just yet, not with the Bucs poised to take a shot at the conference crown.
“I kind of have a feeling that my best moment at ETSU is yet to come,” she said.

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