Graduating six seniors from last season’s 20-17 squad, West Prairie High School volleyball coach Drew Snyder will field a younger squad this fall.
“We’re looking forward to a lot of new challenges this year,” he said. “We have a younger varsity team with only one returning senior.”
Among the losses for the Cyclones were Prairieland Conference South Division unanimous First Team selection in setter Madelyn Sullivan. Outside hitter Alexa Barkley was a second team selection.
“I think we’re going to surprise some people,” said Snyder. “I think we’re going to be a lot better than people think. We lost a lot of seniors last year, but I’m really confident in this group that they can be just as good, if not better, than our team last year.”
Junior Niah Zimmerman returns after earning Prairieland Second Team honors last season.
Zimmerman topped West Prairie with 191 kills, while also adding 196 digs.
From the service line, she added 144 points that included 19 service aces.
Right side hitter Madison Adams is the team’s lone senior with sophomore Alyvia Barkley also stepping into an outside hitter role.
In the middle, juniors Payton McGrew and Ashlynn Kelley are taking the lead for the Cyclones.
“I look forward to seeing our middles blossom,” said Snyder.
Snyder noted that junior Madison McClure is a good ball control player, while classmate Josie Hodges steps in as setter.
Sophomore Marryn Ferguson comes to West Prairie after transferring from Bushnell-Prairie City.
“She’s an incredible athlete, very fast, a player to watch during the next couple of years,” said Snyder.
Another player to kepp an eye on according to Snyder is freshman Drew Branch, also a setter.
“I think we have a good core,” he said.
Many of the juniors were part of a JV team that finished 19-2 last year. Snyder noted however that the varsity level is a totally different game with faster, stronger players.
“But I think they’re up for the challenge,” he said. “They love the game. They want to be good and I think they’re going to succeed.”
“We’ve worked really hard this summer to try and advance our offense,” said Snyder. “We’ve worked really hard on defense and blocking.”
“The girls have put in a lot of hard work,” he added. “They’ll be moments where we’re humbled. We have a lot of juniors playing for the first time at this level full time.”
With so many players moving up to the varsity level, Snyder noted the importance of work done during the summer.
“It helps you learn your teammates,” he said. “What they’re good at, what their weaknesses are and how we can shore up those weaknesses.”
Among the goals for the Cyclones is to post a winning record in tournament play.
Last year in four tournaments, the Cyclones finished 9-9. This year, they are aiming to notch at least 10 wins.
That includes improving on a 1-4 finish the team had at last year’s Macomb Classic.
The team will also play in the Lady Suns Classic the following week, meaning West Prairie will play 10 matches in an eight-day span.
“It’s a lot of playing, but it’s going to be really good for us to play those really good teams,” said Snyder.
“We want to play as many of those good teams as we can and see a lot of those good teams,” he added. “We want to play the Peoria Notre Dames. We want to play the Limestones and the Pleasant Plains.”
“Is it going to be tough for us? Yeah,” he added. “But that’s what we need to see, because those are the types of teams that we have to play now when we get into a regional.”
“We’ve got to play them as much as possible.”
As for keys to success, Snyder noted that it will start with a stingy defense and a diversified offense.
“We’re smaller this year,” he said. “We need to be a defensive dynamo. Ball off the court, relentlessly pursuing the ball every play.”
“We have good hitters that are going to get a lot of kills,” Snyder added. “But we don’t have a dominant, terminal hitter.”
“We have to be really good about maintaining rallies, ball control, serve, pass and defense,” said Snyder. “They have to be really good in those three areas if they want to be competitive.”
In addition, he is pushing the team to be more aggressive when out of system, as well as speeding up the offense and not making it so predictable.
But what may be the biggest challenge?
“We’ve just got to work on being consistent,” said Snyder. “That will be the challenge.”
