St. Mary's looks to build on last season's experience

The volleyball squad at Remsen St. Mary's may seem young, but the experience level of these girls is high. Coach Janelle Schorg believes that is the key strength for this Hawks team.

"As far as strengths go, they've played with each other for a long time," Schorg said. "They're used to playing with each other."

Leading the Hawks this fall will be a group of juniors returning with valuable playing experience from 2007.

"Our juniors are very strong," Schorg said. "They've played a lot since they've been sophomores and have more experience."

Returning in the setter's position is junior Jennifer Feller, who led RSM last fall with 90 assists. Feller was scrappy on defense as well, with 78 digs. She added seven kills from the front row to round out her position.

In the front row, junior Mercedees Ricke returns as an outside hitter on the left side. Ricke contributed 17 kills, 21 assists, 17 blocks and 44 digs to the Hawks' effort last fall. Schorg commented that Ricke did not play all around the rotation last season, but will be an all-around strength on the left side this fall.

Junior Emily Klein returns as the libero again this season. Klein leads the returning squad with digs as she had 85 last season. Klein will play the back row rotation for sophomore right side hitter Brielle Biezuns.

Sophomore Emma Krier rounds out the front row returners in the middle hitter position. Krier returns from her freshman season where she totaled 40 kills, 28 blocks and 68 digs.

A new player in the starting lineup will be junior Emily Roder. Roder will be featured in the other middle position, according to Schorg.

The Hawks also feature a trio of seniors who will rotate in from the bench. Kelsey Schroeder totaled 28 kills and 27 digs last fall for the Hawks while Samantha Theisen added 14 kills and 39 digs in her junior campaign. Paige Ruba is the third senior on the squad. She will split her time between volleyball and cross country this fall after returning from a year's hiatus.

Schorg is excited about the experience level of her squad this season. She is also confident about their strengths in hitting and defense. "Our middle side hitters have a lot of height, especially Brielle has a lot of height," she said. "And we'll be scrappy on defense as well."

Looking to the schedule, the Hawks add a new tournament this season, replacing the Unity Christian tournament they used to attend. RSM will travel to the Alta tournament on Saturday, Sept. 27.

"We just decided that since we get to see [Unity] two or three times during the year, we would go to a tournament with schools more at our level, our size," Schorg said.

As far as the War Eagle Conference goes, that is where the Hawks saw their lone win last season, defeating Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn to finish 1-8 in the conference and 1-28 overall.

Unity Christian (9-0) completed the league sweep last fall, with Sergeant Bluff-Luton coming in second with an 8-1 record.

"Our conference is very strong," Schorg said. "The last couple years we've been towards the bottom, but all the matches that we've played went to five games, so it could have gone either way. I'm hoping we'll end up in the middle of the conference this fall."

The Hawks debuted Tuesday night in Remsen, defeating Spalding Catholic 3-1 in a War Eagle Conference match-up.

St. Mary's will continue their fall campaign at the Sioux City West Early Bird tournament on Saturday.