Following a competitive five-set jamboree volleyball match on Aug. 22, the Winside volleyball team will begin NSAA competition this week.
There are 12 members who make up the Wildcat volleyball program.
Heather Marotz will be entering her second leading Winside volleyball.
The team has been working on a little bit of everything and were excited about having the Wakefield Jamboree on their schedule last Thursday, Aug. 22.
Coach Marotz said that’s where you find your weaknesses.
“Where are you not transitioning right in defense and things like that,” said Marotz. “You can only do so much in practice against your hitters that you have on JV. So, it’s always good to have them hit against varsity hitters and then see where we’re at defensively and then build on our offense from there.”
Joining coach Marotz will be Brooklyn Behmer as an assistant.
Winside will have quite a few sophomores returning who received a lot of playing time in 2023. Skylar Spann set in the back row all season last year and Samantha Gubbels finished 2023 as libero who are the seniors this upcoming year.
Winside will need to replace a setter and a middle hitter.
Winside volleyball participated in the Wayne State and Concordia (Seward, NE) camps while working out four days a week.
“The Concordia Camp is especially like a training camp,” Marotz. “So, they spend the first two days being coached by their team, so the college players. Then the third day is a tournament with like 35 teams.”
Winside finished 8-19 last season. The coaching staff stated that if the team believes in themselves, they’ll be able to accomplish their goals.
Coach Marotz mentioned the improvement she’d like to see is more confidence.
“I had about four freshman serve-receiving every time that we played against varsity teams,” Marotz mentioned. “While they were very talented and they worked really hard, there’s a big difference between a 14 year old and an 18 year old. I think that they really learned a lot last year and so I’m very excited to see where they go this year.”
Winside will open their regular season on Thursday, Aug. 29 hosting Creighton at 7 p.m. The Wildcat volleyball team will also travel to the Howells-Dodge Tournament on Aug. 31.
