MHS VOLLEYBALL: NEW HEIGHTS
When the Menno High School volleyball team takes the court in Centerville Thursday night, Aug. 26 for its season-opener, head coach Rachel Stokes and the Wolves will approach the match — and the season — with one ideal in mind: Team over individual.
“That’s the big push this year,” said Stokes, who is starting her 12th year as Menno’s head volleyball coach. “If we work as a team and we bring a good attitude, we can go a lot further than even teams that may be stronger than us. Maybe they have better hitters than us, but if we bring a good attitude and we hustle, we can be successful.”
“Positive attitude every day. That’s one of my biggest things, and they have bought in. They all want the same thing this year. Let’s keep our attitudes good and let’s win. Let’s work together and let’s be the best we can be.”
Leading the way this season will be five returning-letter winners who will contribute considerably and help offset the loss of eight seniors to graduation.
“They’re very good leaders,” Stokes said. “They’re positive and encouraging. I’m putting a lot of weight on them to help lead the younger ones and be the core of my varsity.”
Among them is Bridget Vaith, a senior who comes in at 6 feet, 2 inches and will help anchor play at the net. “She’s a big blocker who has really been strengthening her shoulders and her swing,” said the coach. “I’m expecting big things from her this season.”
Stokes has similar expectations for Raygen Diede, also a senior who will contribute as an outside hitter and from the service line, and from setters Grace Nusz and Paityn Huber, “who run the court, see the court and find the dump. They are a big part of that team chemistry and what keeps everybody together doing what needs to get done.”
The fifth returning letter-winner is junior Julia Buechler, an outside hitter who is expected to also make an impact at the net.
Beyond that, “I have some open spots,” Stokes told The Courier last week. “I’m still trying to figure out the best fit.”
In addition to the returning letter-winners, this year’s team includes two additional seniors in Isabella Hogeland and Kaelea McCoy, seven other juniors — Abby Bender, Alana Fergen, Morgan Freier, Madelyn Kludt, Allison Lehr, Josephine Stokes and Halle Van Hove — and a pair of sophomores in Ashton Massey and Maggie Miller.
Stokes hopes the “team over individual” mentality with which she is approaching the season will translate to motivation and hard work. Playing time will be a commodity this fall, said the coach, because this year she wants her best six to be on the court.
“If that means I’m taking out a starter in the front row because I need a bigger blocker, then that’s what we need to do,” Stokes said. “That’s a discussion I’ve had with the girls — ‘What do you want to do?’ They want to win, and that means some will have to sacrifice playing time to get us to that point, and we’re good with that. Let’s be the strongest group we can be.”
Menno will be eyeing its first winning season in four years in the weeks and months to come. The Wolves finished 14-11 in 2017 but posted a 29-48 record from 2018-2020.
Stokes acknowledges that it’s not all about winning.
“You want to win; that’s why we’re here,” she said. “But there is also the mental side of it: how can we build these girls up, not just for volleyball, but for life in general?”
One way to do that — and something Stokes has worked hard at the past few seasons — is to be positive.
“Kids have a lot of other things going on in their lives and get down on themselves,” she said. “I don’t want to be the person who contributes to that. I try to bring more of that positive attitude.”
But winning is fun, Stokes said.
“I told the girls, ‘I want a banner,’ she said. “I point to the banners hanging on the wall and I tell them, ‘it’s our turn.’
“We have a hard region — it’s one of the toughest and won’t be easy — but that’s what I would like,” the coach continues. “Let’s push each other to get better. Let’s show people that we’ve got something special here, too.”
