In the late afternoon the Cook County High School gymnasium has been alive with the sounds of more than 30 young ladies practicing volleyball in their preparation for the upcoming season. Head coach Pam Taylor has a nice mix of older and younger players to assemble a varsity squad, and the Vikings should do well in the Polar Conference this season.
While school isn’t in session yet, the Cook County High School gym has been alive with the sounds of volleyball players practicing hard to get ready for their upcoming season.
Head Coach Pam Taylor welcomed 34 players to practice on Monday, August 11.
With more than 30 years as head volleyball coach, Taylor said she sees a lot of potential in this year’s team.
“We have a really good strong group of girls,” said Taylor. “We have three seniors, Jamie Sjogren, Carrie Palmer and Morgan Mixdorf and returning juniors, Maddy Roy, Linden Sutton, Trace McQuatters, Sarah Carman and Lily Gruber-Schulz to go along with a strong sophomore class and a good group of ninth graders. Heck, all of the classes are good,” she said, adding, “I’m really hoping we can surprise some people this year.”
Andrea Hofelvt is Taylor’s assistant coach, replacing Sharon Dorr who is taking some time off to spend more time with her children, said Taylor.
Hofelvt will be teaching math, study skills and physical education at the school this year as well as coaching volleyball.
Two Sutton girls should lead the way. Linden, a junior, and Meredith a freshman, have been playing in leagues in Duluth the past year. They also participated in a volleyball camp held at University of Minnesota-Duluth with many of their Viking teammates.
A large group of Vikings also participated in the Star of the North tournament held in St. Cloud in late June.
“Four teams played and the girls came away with a lot of experience. They got in a lot of playing time and one team, our A team came away with a medal,” said Taylor.
Last year Linden made second team Polar League All-Conference. She and her sister are both about 6 feet tall and good leapers. The Vikings also have more height in Lily Gruber-Schulz and Emily Jacobsen, which should give them a strong presence on the front line.
Coach Taylor is also counting on the strong serving of Alex Slanga. “Alex is left handed and she has a wicked serve. We also have some strong servers in the sophomore and freshman classes. One thing about this entire group is that they like competition. They also like to compete against each other, so it should be interesting to see who wants playing time. They will have to earn it because someone will be right behind them ready to play.”
The Vikings’ first home game will be August 26 against Silver Bay. The first game will start at 4:45 p.m. with the varsity taking the floor at 6:30 p.m. Two days later the Vikings will travel to play Duluth Marshall in Duluth.
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