MOUNT AYR — Mount Ayr’s volleyball team raised the bar a bit last season during a 25-10 campaign.
After reaching the regional semifinals, the Raiderettes are out to make it a couple of rounds further in the postseason and earn a trip to Cedar Rapids and the state tournament.
With the success last season has come a renewed commitment to improving at volleyball this offseason.
The work has showed early in fall practices according to coach Tori Braby.
“We’re starting off right now probably the best we have in the first few practices,” Braby said.
Five starters are back hungry to leave an impact on the court.
“The girls’ expectations are really high,” Braby said. “I told them I’d give them five games to lose this season and they don’t even want to take five. They want to go undefeated. They want to go further than last season.”
Having that experience back showed up in summer workouts.
“This year they want it a lot more,” Braby said. “They wanted a lot more stuff this summer than they normally do. Normally they come in a few times. They were like coach, we want to get in the gym. We need to get started.”
Team chemistry has been at a high level as well.
“It’s how they’re working together, how hard they’ve been practicing,” Braby said. “I told them last year they have the skill, they just need the attitude and determination. That’s something that’s really changed this year. They’ve shown up ready to go.”
Having the skilled athletes that the Raiderettes have doesn’t hurt either. Seniors like Kelcie Shields, who had 397 kills last season, Tessa Shields, Macy Larsen, Sadie Frost and Blair Glendenning will lead the way/ while versatile junior Alyssa Johnson comes back after a strong junior year in which she posted 413 assists, 182 digs and 49 aces.
The goal is ending the season in mid-November in Cedar Rapids at the U.S. Cellular Center.
“They want to win the conference tournament. They don’t only want to beat teams, they want to put teams away,” Braby said. “With these seniors, they really want to get to the state tournament.
“Mount Ayr volleyball has never been to the state
tournament, so it’s definitely a high expectation they see in their future.”
GREENFIELD — Few southwest Iowa volleyball teams are going to sport an 11-person senior class. Nodaway Valley has that luxury to offset any uncertainty that may come with a new coach.
Allison Bjork steps in as the new coach of the Wolverines after having spent the last two years as head volleyball coach at Tri-Center.
“I never fully wanted to be a head varsity volleyball coach until I was in the position at my last school, and that just made my passion really grow for it,” Bjork said.
She heads a group that loses several of its stronger performers from a year ago, but has plenty of experience yet.
Seniors Josie Clarke, Paige McElfish and Bailey Wiggins return as captains for a team that went 14-12 last season, but was even more strong in Pride of Iowa play.
“My first talk with them was ‘what are your girls for this season?’ and over half of them if not 80 percent of them said ‘Pride of Iowa champs,’ said Bjork.
To accomplish that task, the Wolverines will lean heavily on players like Clarke in the front row, McElfish as the libero — she had 338 digs a year ago — Wiggins as one of the setters and more. But Bjork expects plenty more growth from her team in the squad’s first few matches of the season.
“We are looking for someone to step up in the back row. Ultimately I’d love for Paige to be able to play all the way around and somebody to be able to take her position,” Bjork said. “Front row we did lose a lot of height last year so we do need someone to step up in that blocker role and leadership role in that front row other than Josie.”
Clarke, a 6-foot one-inch front row player, led the team with 142 kills and also tallied 38 total blocks. Wiggins and others have a big role to fill at the setter position, as the Wolverines look to fill the spot occupied by Kenna Lundy, who had 547 assists a year ago.
The overall depth of older players on the team might just be the key for Nodaway Valley.
“We’re very versatile,” Bjork said. “I have a lot of people who can be in a lot of different positions and I wouldn’t be afraid to put them in there for one second.”
Nodaway Valley will have to compete withthe likes of strong squads in Bedford and Mount Ayr to compete for a POI championship.
LENOX — Big numbers have greeted Lenox volleyball coach Sara Dukes this fall.
The Tigers have 29 girls out as they look to improve on last season’s 11-14 mark.
Several returnees are back including senior Shantelle Brown and senior Jacy Stoaks, along with senior Hannah Mitchell.
The rest of the team is dominated by underclassmen.
“We have a very young team,” Dukes said. “We have 29, but they’re all pretty young.”
This team has already made good growth in camp.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how much they’ve improved over the summer,” Dukes said. “We’ll some some improvements. I want them to continue to grow, continue to get stronger. They’re playing together.”
She expects a number of the younger players to step up and contribute right away.
Lenox placed second in the Pride of Iowa Conference Tournament last season, a goal it hopes to reach again.
“We want to get there,” Dukes said.
She tabbed Mount Ayr as the favorite, with East Union, Bedford and Nodaway Valley as teams to watch.
AFTON — Even in losing the three of the most experienced players on its roster, East Union returns plenty of talent yet.
Eagles coach Gail Thatcher is optimistic that a solid returning core of juniors and more will lead her squad to success in the Pride of Iowa conference.
“This year’s juniors have been playing in the lineup since they were freshmen, so they’ve got a lot of experience too,” Thatcher said. “We should be really solid. We’re going to take some hits, but we’re going to have some surprises too.”
After losing seniors Kali Mertens, McKayle Dudney, and Katlin Weinkoetz from a team that went 21-10, East Union will rely more heavily on youngsters to get things done.
Junior Rylee Mitchell returns to set up the big hitters for the Eagles. Mitchell assisted on 658 of the Eagles points a season ago. Junior Mara Weis returns to put put some power behind the Eagles attack up front as an outside hitter. She easily leads the returners in kills after registering 123 a year ago.
Junior Olivia Eckels will rove as the libero and provide a lot of digs for a squad that needs to endure some big hits from opposing hitters.
“I’m really happy with the scrappy defense that we’ll be able to play with with Mara Weis and Olivia Eckels,” Thatcher said. They’re both really good defensively in the back row... I think we’ll do a lot of digging, hopefully we can return the hits.”
Thatcher maintains that starting positions are still up in the air at several spots. She’s confident her team’s depth will be an advantage, claiming that the sophomores and freshmen on her squad have impressed her after only a couple handful of practices.
The girls on the squad are pretty focused on themselves as a unit right now. With uncertainty still there and positions up for grabs, it’s hard to look ahead.
“Like I told the girls earlier, lineup is going to change from night to night.”
How that lineup takes shape might not be seen until the Eagles have put in work and gotten into some early-season weekend play. Until then, East Union will work to try and find a fit with its lineup.
ORIENT — Orient-Macksburg’s volleyball team took its share of tough moments last season.
With a number of letterwinners back, the Bulldogs will look to turn the tables on a 1-17 season.
Leading the way is junior Brooklyn Sammons. Sammons led the Bulldogs with 63 assists last season. Sophomore Kyla Bailey is back.
According to coach Katie Geidel, Sammons will play back row, while Bailey will play all the way around.
Also returning is junior Ashlyn Kralik and junior Pheonix White.
The Bulldogs bring in five freshmen, several of whom are going to be expected to contribute right away.
“They’re going to have to contribute,” Geidel said.
Also new this season is junior Montana Holtry, a transfer.
The season will feature a bit of a change in the middle. Geidel is due to have a child shortly after the season begins. Teresa Thompson has joined the team as an assistant coach, while junior high coach Samantha Thompson will also help out.
Geidel tabbed Grandview Christian as a team to look out for in the Bluegrass Conference, along with Moravia and Iowa Christian Academy.
“We’re hoping to be competitive,” Geidel said.
DIAGONAL — At a school in which hardly above 30 kids are enrolled, 14 girls on one team probably isn’t expected.
The Diagonal Maroons have enough girls this season to field both a varsity and junior varsity squad in what is certain to be an up year for the program.
“It’s really good for us this year because we have the numbers to mix the teams up. It’s not very often that we can field two full teams,” Diagonal coach Mallory Grandfield said.
Grandfield, who is in her first year as head coach and third year with the program as a coach, expects good things from her team, thanks largely to the experience of five seniors.
She notes that former head coach Allison Hajek will be around to offer assistance from time to time.
Of the five seniors that return, all should be expected to see significant playing time.
Allison Norris and Kasydi Klommhaus return as middle hitters for the Maroons, as does outside hitter Megan Davenport, Jaci Haidsiak and Stormie Buchanan.
Grandfield cited sophomore Emily Newton, Klommhaus and Norris as crucial parts of potential signs of improvements from last year’s 4-17 squad.
Newton tied for the team lead in kills last year with 57 alongside Klommhaus and led the squad with 64 digs. Klommhaus put together a 94 percent serve efficiency to lead the team. Norris tallied 48 serves and led the Maroons with 33 aces. Cassie Lohmann is back after having easily led the team with 159 assists and was second on the team with 63 digs as setter in 56 sets of action.
The depth of the squad should be a strong point, as the deep bench is a luxury not always afforded to the Maroons in the past.
“Everyone’s pretty versatile that we can throw them pretty much anywhere,” Grandfield said.
She added “I think it’ll be good to have the deep bench because we can throw everybody in fresh and hopefully keep our energy up throughout the game.”
The one fall girls team in the town of just over 300 people will play games to an adoring crowd at Diagonal High School gym and will welcome plenty of Bluegrass Conference opponents who will have to compete with as competitive a volleyball club that the school has fielded in recent years. The Maroons have combined for just 10 wins in the last five years. Perhaps they’ll come near that total this fall.
CORNING — An experienced senior class returns for a Southwest Valley squad that looks for strong signs of improvement after the Timberwolves went 9-17 overall.
Back for her 11th year as coach is Lindsay Wetzel, who leads a group that loses just one senior from a year ago.
The expectations for high after a losing season given the amount of experience the Timberwolves bring back.
“I look for us to improve and get better and better each time we step on the court. We don’t see much of the east side of the conference during our regular season except Central Decatur and Martensdale St. Marys. Martensdale always seems to have a well put together team,” Wetzel said.
Returning for the Timberwolves is a strong nucleus of players that includes the likes of senior Danica Sunderman at middle blocker, senior Katie Taylor at libero, athletic sophomore Morgan Shuey at outside hitter, senior Kiara Roberts at outside hitter, and more.
Seniors Shelby Nelson, Molly Oglesbee, and Jacy Shafer round out a deep senior class.
Sunderman, Shuey and Shafer will likely prove to be the “Three Killer S’s” for fans out there of alliteration. The three were tops on the team in kills last season with 208, 80 and 79 respectively.
Setting them up could be Hailey Thomas or Alaina Currin, who both earned time on the floor last year and return as sophomore setters looking to fill the void left by Damewood.
Expect Taylor and Shuey to pick up the slack getting low on digs and getting the Wolverines into attack mode.
Even with strong squads on the western side of the Pride of Iowa, Wetzel has high expectations.
“I think the west side of the POI will be pretty competitive between all six teams,” Wetzel said. “Our goal is to finish first in the top three on the west side and ultimately be in and win the championship game during the conference tournament.”
Whether the experience of the Wolverines proves enough to achieve success in the POI is something to look forward to.
MURRAY — Murray’s volleyball team is in a bit of a unique position heading into this season.
Veteran coach Jerry Shields is dealing with one of the shortest teams he’s ever had in his 18 years at the helm of the Mustangs.
The Mustangs will look to overcome their lack of height with adept passing and solid fundamentals as the Mustangs look to build off a 20-9 season a year ago.
This year’s Murray squad will not feature a player taller than 5-foot-9 inches, considerably shorter than what the Mustangs have had in the past.
“This is the first time in 18 years that we haven’t had a six-footer,” Shields said. “That’s going to be a little bit of a change for us.”
The Mustangs lost three-quarters of their offense as kill leaders Madison Gonseth, Jade Lecy, Courtney Titus and Shelby Myers all graduated.
Senior Katie Otto, senior Kayla Siefkas, junior Zoie Lacy and sophomore Bre Klein are going to be counted on to help lead the offense this season.
Helping lead the charge offensively is all-Bluegrass Conference setter senior Brandi Gilbert.
“She’s made a big difference,” Klein said. “We run a 5-1 so she runs everywhere on the court.”
Passing this season to get he ball to Gilbert will be key.
“That’s why we’re going to have to pass decent all over the court.”
With the lack of height, an emphasis has been put on passing.
“The biggest thing we’re working on is our defense,” Shields said. “We have to be able to play a lot of defense and turn that into offense.”
The Mustangs have been competitive on their side of the Bluegrass Conference, having won it outright or at least a share the past four years. Shields tabbed Lamoni as a team to beat on their side of the conference and Grandview Christian on the other.