OnFocus Season Preview
Coaching staff:
Head Coach: Betty Lange
Assistant coaches: Rick Svennes and Ashley Lange
Key returners:
Seniors Paige Guld and Ashley Jankowski
Juniors: Lily Shields and Annika Svennes (waiting to be cleared soon from last season ACL tear)
Sophomore: Camille Sobolewski
Key newcomers:
Junior Grace Hoelter Sophomore Lauren Thiel -we will be looking for increased roles from them.
we have a group of young talent that I am excited to see them develop throughout the season and possibly contribute along the way
Conference outlook:
I feel the Marawood South is going to be extremely tough this season. All of the teams are returning some talent and will be super competitive. We hope to battle it out with all of them.
Keys to your success this season:
Finding that team chemistry/flow and learning to play with each other as a unit. Getting better at reading the hitters and playing defense accordingly. Developing a quick and consistent offense. Utilizing our players’ strengths for the betterment of the team’s success.
Behind the scenes: Who are some of the people that help your program succeed?
Our athletic department. Joe Ackerman has been fantastic getting everything prepared and communicating details.
Our middle school coaches Julie Thiel and Lisa Sobolewski have been with the program for several years and really help to instill the love for the sport early on. They have also been helpful during our preseason practices lending a hand where needed.
Parents are always pivotal in a successful program and Newman has some of the best! We have the best team parents!
Our coaches are more than just coaches. They are doing so much behind the scenes work to help us be successful. Rick Svennes has been in charge of our spring and summer youth volleyball programs and also the organization side of our high school program. Getting everyone on board with HUDL and Nuer Fuel, keeping our practice and competition schedule up to date along with so much more. And Ashley Lange takes charge of not only in the practice gym but teaching the other intangibles to our players along with keeping social media up and of course reporting our scores and results to our media.
Too many to mention. I’m sure I forgot someone 🙁
Coach’s comments: anything else you’d like to share?
Just that we are incredibly excited to be in the gym every day with this hardworking, talented, committed group of student athletes that are ready and open to learning each day, not only about volleyball but also everything that goes along with being a good teammate and person.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
