Volleyball gets set for the season to begin

 

Viking head volleyball coach Marlene Wester greeted 28 players to her 2022 squad. The players have been practicing their skills and conditioning for the last two weeks. Did you know that a player will jump on average of 300 times during a match? A regulation volleyball court is 29 feet, six inches wide by 59 feet. That’s a lot of territory to cover for players on both sides of the net, so conditioning is key.

Wester returns five players with varsity experience. They are Katie Peck, Emmalli Myers, Makenzie Fairbanks, Kalina Dimitrova, and Anna Helmerson.

“We have five seniors, six juniors and two sophomores on the varsity this year,” said Wester. “We have a strong junior class. They will be a big help and Molly Quello, a sophomore, will probably end up in the line-up somewhere.”

When asked where players would play, Coach Wester replied, “We have a lot of talent on this squad. I don’t want to put players in a box. A lot of the girls have the ability to play multiple positions.”

 

The Vikings are coming off a 10-12 record, and Coach Wester says her team will be competitive in a tough conference. “Like us, everyone lost key players from their teams last year. But, we should be in the mix.”

Over the summer, the gym was open for volleyball practice, with quite a few kids showing up to play. Then, in late July, Coach Wester took juniors and seniors to a UMD volleyball camp. The girls played against 11 teams and finished seventh. But, again, it was a respectful showing.

“We’re two hours away from volleyball clubs the girls can join and play in. It costs a lot of money to travel and it is a lot of time to spend going back and forth to play club ball. It puts us at a disadvantage to compete against teams whose kids live near Duluth and can play club volleyball. But, if we practice more during the year on our own, we can be competitive. I tell the girls they have the rest of their lives to work. Enjoy sports now because this is your chance to play with your teammates.”

 

Assistant coaches are Laurie Wester (Marlene’s mother) and Jens Jacobsen, the C-squad coach.

This year’s squad will play 16 games, not including holiday tournaments, with seven of those games played at home. The Vikings open their season with a game at home on September 1 against Esko. The varsity will take the floor at 6:30 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!