Big turnover for Wolverines volleyball | Sports preview

September 16, 2018 2:00 pm
Staff photo/Tate Thomson Front row (l-r): Ella Mason, Eva Sanabria, Magally Aguayo, Rachelle Cruz, Ashley Lawson, Olivia Meenan, Olivia Germain, Katie Beyer. Middle row (l-r): Isabella Valdez, Liz Cruz, Aiden Haines, Melanie Quiroz, Siri Lindstrum, Katy Kulseth, Annika Janson. Back row (l-r): Nadine Varsovia, Marcella Kirkland, Rachel Starr, Zoe Wegemer, Stella Parsons, Christa Niyeze, Derek Smith.
Staff photo/Tate Thomson Front row (l-r): Ella Mason, Eva Sanabria, Magally Aguayo, Rachelle Cruz, Ashley Lawson, Olivia Meenan, Olivia Germain, Katie Beyer. Middle row (l-r): Isabella Valdez, Liz Cruz, Aiden Haines, Melanie Quiroz, Siri Lindstrum, Katy Kulseth, Annika Janson. Back row (l-r): Nadine Varsovia, Marcella Kirkland, Rachel Starr, Zoe Wegemer, Stella Parsons, Christa Niyeze, Derek Smith.

By Tate Thomson

Sports reporter

The 2018 Wolverines volleyball team is preparing to win big during the upcoming season.

“The past two seasons we have come within two sets of going to the state finals, and this year we are hoping to break that curse and secure a spot at state,” said head coach Derek Smith, “Our goal is always to have a winning season and a great time.”

The team has a big turnover this year, losing seven seniors and one exchange student from last season. There are four seniors stepping up for this season, and all four have played during their entire high school career so far. “[They] are more than ready to step up and have a great season. Overall, we gained four new freshmen, so our program is still well balanced across all grades,” said Smith.

Preseason practices were productive, according to Smith, and the team is going to take advantage of technology in their continuing practice. “This year we’d like to use more video capture and playback to fine-tune each player’s skills. Being able to see themselves both in practice and during matches will help tremendously,” said Smith.

The team is looking forward to taking on their recurring rival, Darrington. “Two years ago, we lost to Darrington in the district finals to get bumped out of a spot for state. Last season we ended up tied for second place with Darrington before heading to the district finals and had to have a playoff match to determine our seed. We swept Darrington 3-0 and took the second place title outright. We then met them again in the district finals and went down two sets to start but fought back to win 3-2,” said Smith.

The first game of the season was on Sept. 6. The Wolverines went up against Coupleville and lost 3-0.