2023 Volleyball Season Preview
American Conference
Head Coach: Katie Cicione
Players to watch: Brooke Gecina (Senior, 19, outside/ds) is every coach’s dream athlete. She is extremely versatile and moves with such a high volleyball IQ. In the face of competition, Brooke becomes a relentless warrior.– Ollie Salgado (Senior, 3, Setter) truly thrives on the challenge of pushing herself and everyone around her beyond their limits to achieve greatness. She has an amazing ability to problem solve and be forward thinking.– Amanda Chmielewski (Senior, 1, Outside) is a cool, calm, and collected player which truly is a huge asset to our team. She has the ability to stay composed under pressure, make a well – thought out decision to better the ball, and she leads by example which makes her presence a source of inspiration for the program.
Season outlook: The upcoming season looks promising for our team as we boast the depth of experience needed to thrive in high-pressure situations. Our offensive lineup is brimming with versatile and skilled hitters, making us a formidable force on the court. Adding to our strength, we have an All-state setter who operates at a high volleyball IQ, ensuring smooth and strategic plays. Moreover, our team’s success is driven by our unity and shared vision, making us an extremely cohesive unit ready to take on any challenge that comes our way.
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Head Coach: Antoine Pastor
Players to watch: Katey Firestine. Sr. #4 Outside– Alexa Strandberg Sr. #20 Outside– Kalynn Stoner So. #21 Rightside
Season outlook: We have 3 returners mixed with 9 new varsity athletes. The team is young in age but aggressive on the court. Coach Pastor is looking forward to the growth of the team this season!
Head Coach: Caleb Francis
Players to watch: Ava Phillips Senior #9 MB– Jaidan Lewis Junior #24 OH– Eva Kemper Junior #14 L
Season outlook: We are returning a large portion of our varsity team! There has been a ton of growth in this program and we are very excited about the season!
Head Coach: Laura Merk
Players to watch: Izzy Shank- Senior, #6, Outside Hitter– Sydney Smith- Senior, #8, Libero– Ashley Shefferly- Junior, #5, setter
Season outlook: This season we have 5 returning players with Varsity experience from our regional finals run last year- I look forward to seeing how their experience helps influence and support some of our younger/new varsity players on the team this year. We should have a well rounded offense and defense to help reach our overall team goals for the season. I look forward to a great season with an even greater group of determined athletes and supportive coaching staff!
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Head Coach: Sean Burns
Players to watch: Delaney Jones (Senior, 3, Setter)– Emmy Derry (Senior, 22, Libero)– Norah Redfern (Junior, 28, Outside)
Season outlook: We’re going to have a massive youth movement in our team, adding 3 sophomores and 2 first year juniors. We’re looking to our experienced returners in Emmy Derry, Norah Redfern and Delaney Jones to help lead this young group in a very tough conference.
Head Coach: Josh Stewart
Players to watch: Lexi Gray, Sr, 25, Setter– Sammy Blatt, Sr, 21, Middle Hitter– Kara Marino, Jr, 12, Right-side Hitter
Season outlook: We had a lot to replace from last season and are dealing with some off-season/preseason injuries but we have some great senior leadership and a group that is willing to leave it all on the floor each day. I don’t know what our record will be but I expect us to compete in each match.
National Conference
Head Coach: Sonja Williams
Players to watch: Senior, 3, Kyla Shugert– Senior, 7, Sophia Chatal– Junior, Alayne Kraus
Season outlook: Brecksville Broadview Hts volleyball has a well seasoned team with 6 seniors and 3 juniors. This will be a strong team this year.
Head Coach: Brad Disandis
Players to watch: Sydney Waller, No number yet, Outside Hitter– Natalie Robinson, No number yet, Middle Hitter– Ella Iriarte, No number yet, Middle Hitter
Season outlook: We are coming off of an incredible season last year making it to Regionals and losing to eventual State Runner Up – Maginificat. We have some of that core of our team back this season and are hoping for great things!
Head Coach: Rocco Covelli
Players to watch: Rylee Kinnell sophomore– Madison Dupont sophomore– Aleithia Wilson Junior
Season outlook: Goals: We would like to win more games than we did last year??? We feel like with this new UKNIGHTED philosophy that we are going to put together a really exciting team that will go through some tough times, but will get stronger each and everyday and will surprise a lot of people this year in the volleyball world. If we can just continue to grow as a team then our win total will grow as well and we will be a very tough team to beat.
Head Coach: Marc Masters
Players to watch: Brooke Kostyack, Jr, 14, OH– Addison Erickson, Jr, 16, S– Izzi Simpson, Sr, 18, RS
Season outlook: As coaches, we’re excited about the upcoming season. We like the talent at all three levels, but it’s also a great group of young ladies that have put a lot of work in over the summer. We look forward to competing with them.
Head Coach: Kaylee Rodriguez & Tim Cain
Players to watch: Ava Kanj (12, 7, Middle blocker)– Kelsie Gaiter-Davis (12, 5, setter)– Reese Hoegler (11, 9, OH)
Season outlook: Team is heavy is heavy in upperclassmen and varsity experience. Looking forward to the competition in the new conference.
Head Coach: Ben Marquette
Players to watch: Gianna Cella (Sr, 25, MH)– Ella Meers (jr,4, s)– Leara Gilbert (sr, 23, OH)
Season outlook: Stow has a lot of returning varsity players including Gianna, Leara, Ella, Abby Green (Sr, DS), and Kate Flaherty (Jr, DS). We are expecting strong offensive contributions from hitters Kylie Schneider (Jr, MH), Peyton Poston (Jr, OH), Kacie Schelien (Jr, RS), Avery Kruse (So, OH), and Mackenzie McCullough (Fr, OH). The defense adds Zoey McCullough (So, DS) and Sofia DeLorenzo (Jr, DS) to the mix. Our points of emphasis at Stow this season are strength through teamwork, growth from relentlessly chasing goals, and energy from individual contributions to the team.
Head Coach: Jessica Rader
Players to watch: Genevieve Talentino (SR, OH)– Brooke Smith (SR, MH)– Claire Grosel (SR, L)
Season outlook: We have a solid core of returning players with a lot of varsity experience. We are looking to build on last years success and to really challenge ourselves to continue to grow and improve.
Head Coach: Ally Wines
Players to watch: Rowan Kelly, sophomore, 21, setter– Maddie Blackburn, junior, 18, Defensive Specialist– Rachel Dunkle, senior, 29, opposite
Season outlook: The grizzlies are looking forward to the 2023 season, returning a senior class of 6 and adding a lot of young talent.