THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997            TAG: 9701220165
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 12   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JAMIE FRANKENBERRY, Special to the Sun 
DATELINE: WINCHESTER                        LENGTH:   79 lines

VANGUILDER IS PLAYING BIG ROLE FOR TINY SHENANDOAH UNIVERSITY THE FORMER N-SA PLAYER HAS FOUND WHAT SHE SOUGHT: A PLACE WHERE SHE ISN'T JUST A NUMBER.

Jill VanGuilder admits she isn't a big fan of change.

For example, when she transferred to Nansemond-Suffolk Academy from Menchville High as a sophomore, VanGuilder was held back a year because she didn't exactly fit in.

``Going to a private school was a big change,'' VanGuilder said recently. ``It was just so different, the curriculum and all that stuff.''

So when time came to leave tiny N-SA, VanGuilder looked for a college with similar traits.

``I wasn't really looking for a place where you're just a number,'' she said. ``I wanted to have a place where it's small enough for you to know everybody. It makes you feel more comfortable. It's more personable.''

VanGuilder found Shenandoah University, a Division III school of 1,800 students about 70 miles west of Washington.

``I love (Winchester). There's not a lot of big-city stuff,'' said the 19-year-old freshman. ``I like the small-town atmosphere, it's kinda like the same thing as Suffolk.''

Something else has remained the same for VanGuilder at Shenandoah - her basketball.

The 5-foot-8 VanGuilder, the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools Player of the Year last season, has started all 10 games this year for the 5-5 Hornets and is averaging 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game through Tuesday.

``I just wanted to come in and work as hard as I could and try to get that starting position,'' said VanGuilder, second on the team with 23 steals. ``In practice I try to work hard enough to prove myself so I can get playing time.''

It didn't take VanGuilder long to make a good impression.

In the Hornets' season-opening Hollins College Invitational, the freshman scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in two games to earn tournament Most Valuable Player honors. She has scored in double figures in four games, including a 16-point performance against Eastern Mennonite last month.

``The good part is that she's only a freshman and she can only get better,'' said Shenandoah coach Kathy Orsini, whose team made its first NCAA Division III tournament appearance last season. ``She's a great penetrator. She can penetrate a zone or she's quick enough to take her man to the hole without any problems. She has the potential to carry us, that's for sure.''

Most impressive has been VanGuilder's ability to fit in with the other starters. She has played point guard, off-guard and small forward.

``It's lots of fun to play with her,'' said leading scorer Deanna Estes of VanGuilder, Shenandoah's only freshman starter. ``In critical situations she doesn't flip out like a regular freshman and get wild and crazy. I can count on her to be level-headed.''

Said VanGuilder, a member of three TCIS tournament champion teams at N-SA: ``I think I can mesh with them well and that helps a lot.''

VanGuilder's rebounding hasn't hurt either. Her 4.7 reboundign average is second on the team behind Christal Awkward's 6.3.

``I love to rebound,'' said VanGuilder, who had seven rebounds in games against Shepherd College and Newport News Apprentice. ``That's something I never got to do in high school, so it does surprise me that I get so many. Sometimes, It's just being at the right spot at the right time, but other times I think I can read the ball well, where it's going to fall.''

Added Orsini: ``She just has that knack. She wants the basketball.''

VanGuilder, who scored 11 points per game as a senior at N-SA, has grasped the college game as quickly as she gobbles up loose balls.

``She's really the first freshman we've had to come in where she hasn't had to hone her skills,'' Orsini said. ``I had expectations of her starting.''

``I've still been getting over the college-game jitters,'' said VanGuilder, a kinesiology major who started playing basketball when she was five years old. ``I think I've pretty much gotten into the groove now, not being nervous when I get in.''

Those jitters, said VanGuilder, have been erased thanks to the cozy feeling of being at Shenandoah.

``Coaches have made me feel more comfortable, made me feel at home,'' she said. ``The school situation, the classes, are comfortable. I just like everything about it - even though it is school.'' ILLUSTRATION: Jill VanGuilder

Was TCIS Player of the Year in '96.