After closing out last year’s season with a 6-20 record, the Racers are starting off this season with optimism and a few more advantages.
Coach David Schwepker discussed the team’s losing season with a few laughs and a good explanation.
“We were a very young team,” Schwepker said.
Schwepker said, however, that his young team now has an advantage over its opponents.
“The freshmen got a lot of playing time,” Schwepker said. “Now those freshmen are sophomores.”
Schwepker said not many freshmen volleyball players get the playing time that most of the freshmen Racers received last year.
Schwepker said that experience will be an advantage on the floor for his team this season.
Not only has this team matured over the past year, but they have also added five experienced freshmen to help boost the roster.
Hannah Stultz of Happy Valley, Ore., Scottie Ingram of Solsberry, Ind., Eleanor Lorenz of St. Louis, Mo., Miranda Fowler of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Kamille Jones of Fort Worth, Texas, have all joined the Racer family for the 2013 season.
Stultz will add a setter to the roster. Ingram will play a big role as an outside hitter for the Racers.
Lorenz will fill in as libero for former Racer Lydia Orf.
Fowler, a talented three-sport athlete in high school, will be focusing solely on volleyball this year for the first time.
Jones, standing at 5’6”, seems like a good candidate for a libero position. However, she will be used as an asset on the net. Her jumping skills and hard hitting will benefit the Racers, the coach said.
With a more experienced and talented team on the floor, Schwepker also has a few more things up his sleeve to make this season a successful one. A new offense and defense has been implemented.
Schwepker said the new offense is the same tactic that led his team to past winning seasons and even made the Racers No. 1 a few years back.
Schwepker said he Racers’ new defense should also be a helpful trick this season.
With Schwepker and the Racers changing things up on the floor, the fans should be pleased.
However, with many outstanding individual players on the roster, Schwepker said there isn’t one particular person that stands out.
Said Schwepker: “This team relies on everybody helping each other out, not just one super star.”
Story by Taylor Crum, Assistant Sports Editor