A jump up to Class C1 will provide some unknowns, but the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge volleyball team is up for the challenge.
A total of 22 girls are out for the Bears which is similar to year’s past with six seniors.
Julie Kvols will be starting her eighth year leading LCC volleyball.
Coach Kvols said it was a busy summer of camps for Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.
“We did the Concordia camp this summer, great team camp,” said Kvols. “We always have Wayne State come in and do a skills camp with us. Then our JV went to the Wayne State Team Camp and we took our varsity to the Creighton University Team Camp.”
It was back to the basics early in the season starting with their serve-receive, passing and defense.
Joining coach Kvols will be Kristina Steinle and Jordan Jansen.
Senior returners are Tali Erwin, Lainey Schutte, Baylie Graf, Alexys Hahne and Avery Hahne. Another senior is Jayden Campbell.
LCC will also bring back junior Tyler Recob on the right side as well as sophomores Rena Rasmussen (middle) and Carlie Kvols (setter). Kaida Ericksen, Hattie McCorkindale and Justice Olson were others highlighted in the sophomore class.
LCC will be without a starter in the middle along with a six-rotation player but have moved some players around to fill those spots.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge has continued to work on staying together as a team.
“When things get tough, being that good teammate,” Kvols added. “We talked about our second scorecard a lot and how we’re handling everything outside of that winning-losing record. We just really want to hammer down the team atmosphere and really making sure that we’re checking those boxes off.”
LCC will now compete in Class C1. The Bears will open with a pair of Class C1 opponents on Thursday, Aug. 29 traveling to West Point for the West Point-Beemer triangular including Battle Creek.
Coach Kvols mentioned there’s a lot of great competition in Class C1 and in Class C2 and with the unknowns, LCC made some changes with a few tougher opponents.
“We added a tournament in Central City (Sept. 21),” Kvols mentioned. “So, that is going to be tough with a lot of C1 schools but good competition for us. Playing just hopefully at a higher level ball brings us to that higher level that we need to be playing at.”
New in 2024., Class C1 and C2 subdistrict assignments will be divided into four regions each based on geography. Three of the regions will have 15 – 18 teams and then serpentine into three subdistricts of four to six teams based on wildcard points through Oct. 17. The 10 subdistrict winners and six wildcards will then qualify for a district final.
