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Patriot Volleyball 2021 Season Outlook

August 27, 2021

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By: Makenna Held, senior

            After last year's superior volleyball season, the Patriot volleyball players and coaches are looking to go above and beyond that. They have big goals set after feeling the high of competing in the state tournament. 

            28 girls make up this year’s squad.

Freshmen this year include Brynn Settje, Baylee Settje, Kammy Held, Izzy Hollatz, Keeley Campbell, Brianne Kuhr, Ella Urban, Teagan Baumert, Emma Gall, Cadence Indra, Rylee Balzer, and MaKenna Hake. 

            Sophomores are Chloe Hanel, Alyssa Gurnsey, Gracie Eisenmann, Phoebe Mayner, Addie McAtee, Macy Clausen, Sage Fernau and Tanyn Larson. 

           Juniors include Korbee Wendt, Sammy McEvoy, and Ella Kappel.

Lastly, seniors for this 2021 season are Melissa Bunner, Bailie Graybill, Natalie Brabec, Kennedy Settje, and Makenna Held. 

            Returning starters from the previous season include Makenna Held, Kennedy Settje, Korbee Wendt, and Chloe Hanel. 

            Coaches this year include head coach, Rebecca Schneider, and assistants Jennifer Remmereid, KC Hegemann, and Becca Hiatt. 

            The annual Gatorade scrimmage was held on Tuesday, September 17 for parents and community members to bring in Gatorade for the team for their tournaments throughout the season and for them to watch the team for the first time. There were two sets of the C team/JV scrimmage and then two sets of a Varsity/JV scrimmage. 

            Last year the Patriot Volleyball team had the best season in Patriot history. They placed fourth at state and had a final record of 22-9. They are looking to top that this season. 

            This year’s squad played a jamboree triangular against Pierce and Columbus Lakeview on August 19, playing each team two sets.

            Kennedy Settje, senior at Leigh said, “Our jamboree game went very well! We figured out what we needed to work on, and we are ready to work on those things next week at practice. We're really looking forward to the upcoming season!”

            First the Patriots battled the Pierce Bluejays. It started out pretty even, rallies going to both sides. The Patriots got close the first set but couldn’t come out on top. They even led the majority of the second set until the end but again failed to prevail. The score of the sets ended being 22-25 and 23-25. 

            Following the Pierce vs Lakeview game was Clarkson-Leigh vs Lakeview. After watching their next opponents play, they felt confident in their ability. They took the court hoping to grasp the first winning sets of the year, but as the first set started, they were falling behind the Vikings fast. They lost the first set due to just too many unforced errors. The score was 18-25.

The second set started out better. Rallies were going both ways, points going to both teams. It was another close game and the Patriots put up a good fight, but they couldn’t come out on top. The score of the second set was 24-26. 

            Head Coach Rebecca Schneider said, “We thought the jamboree matches went really well regardless of the outcome!  There were a lot of good things happening throughout both matches and we're stringing some pretty good rallies together.  Our ball control improved with every set and we were able to run more of our offense which was good to see!  We just need to work on being more consistent, learn to control the things we can control, and push to finish especially once we hit that 18-20 point mark.  Overall, these two matches gave us a good look at where we're at and what we need to work on for the weeks ahead!”