Villisca volleyball to open at Corning

VILLISCA – After losing four varsity starters from their Corner Conference champion team to graduation, the Blue Jays are working hard to step up to the competition.

With their first match quickly approaching and a 9-0 conference record last season, Co-head coaches Jim Obermeier and Steve Wood are putting together the final pieces of the puzzle that is the Blue Jays’ volleyball team.

“We lost a lot of players from last year’s squad, so there is a lot of learning going on right now,” Obermeier said. “We’ve got some girls that are getting settled in, but we have quite a few girls on the bubble right now.”

Players that are getting settled into starting positions are senior Kate Fransen, junior Courtney Auxier, and sophomore Sheri Schaff.

Auxier leads all returning varsity with 82 kills last season as an outside hitter.

“Auxier is probably the best all-around athlete we have on the team,” Wood said. “We’re learning a lot of the girls we have out this year and finding the best places to use them.”

The Blue Jays open their season on Thursday at Corning.

They will have a tall task, stopping six-footer Tessa Mullen and Brooke Goldsmith of the Red Raiders.

Mullen led Corning with 159 kills and 114 blocks (1.5 per game) as a junior.

Saturday, Villisca travels to Clarinda for more non-conference play in the Clarinda High School Tournament.

“We’ll see some pretty good competition in Clarinda,” Obermeier said. “We have a lot of girls working really hard right now, that are playing their way into the rotation.”

Another change that Obermeier and Wood have implemented is a new way of strength and conditioning training.

The girls are doing a lot of circuit training, maximizing the amount of repetitions with minimal rest, along with using workouts from nearby college athletics programs.

“It’s been quite a workout for the girls,” Obermeier said. “They try to have fun with them, but this is probably the hardest we’ve ever trained.”