The Winner High School volleyball team is excited to start the season.
The girls started practice on Thursday and will open the season on the road on Aug. 21 when they travel to Bon Homme.
There are 24 girls on the team. The returning letterwinners are Katy Lantz, Gracie Littau, Addy Root, Jeslyn Felix, Mackenzie Levi, Alexis Richey, Ellie Brozik, Abby Marts, Morgan Hammerbeck, Sierra Hansen and Maggie LaCompte.
The only two seniors gone from last year’s team are Sam Marts and Daesha Klein.
This year’s Lady Warriors will include a new player, Kalla Bertram, who played at Elk Point/Jefferson. Bertram is a sophomore.
Also on the team is a foreign exchange student from the country of Georgia.
Two 8th graders have been called up to the varsity—Rylee Root and Kelbi Meiners.
The six seniors on the team are Richey, Marts, Littau, Hansen, Felix and Lantz.
Last year’s record was 21-10.
Winner plays in the Big Dakota and SESD Conference.
“We are excited about the season,” said coach Jaime Keiser.
A lot of the girls coming back have a lot of experience.
Coach Keiser explained Marts was moved from the outside to the middle position.
Setters will be Addy Root, Mackenzie Levi with Rylee Root being the setter for the C team.
The coach says Winner starts out with a couple of tough matches. Winner opens the season Aug. 21 at Bon Homme.
In practice the team has been working on passing, defense and serve receive.
Keiser says serve receive is the team’s biggest weakness. “If we can control our serve receive and get some good passes will be will be a quality team.”
The team attended several team camps this summer.
The Lady Warriors are part of the Big Dakota Conference and the SESD Conference.
The coach noted the team was not happy a year ago when they were only a few points away from going to the state tournament. This year the Lady Warriors would like to be playing in the state tournament.
Jenna Phillips is the assistant coach for the volleyball team.
The 2018 Winner High School volleyball schedule includes:
Aug. 21 at Bon Homme
Aug. 23—at Miller
Aug. 28—Burke/South Central, home
Aug. 30—at Ainsworth, Neb.
Sept. 4—Bennett County/Gregory, home
Sept. 11—At Lyman
Sept. 15—at Stanley Co. tournament
Sept. 17—at Mobridge/Pollock
Sept 22—at Sisseton
Sept 25—Todd County, home
Oct. 2—at Gregory
Oct. 4—at White River
Oct. 6—at Chester area
Oct. 9—at Chamberlain
Oct. 15—Mt. Vernon/Plankinton, home
Oct. 16—Wagner, home
Oct. 20—at Bon Homme
Oct. 22—Platte/Geddes, home
Oct. 29—Region
Nov. 1—Region
Nov. 6—Region
Nov. 15-17—state meet in Sioux Falls
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