Lady Panthers tout improved front line

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Wilmot Union High School welcomes 6-2 freshman

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

Entering last season, the Lady Panthers’ volleyball squad had a weakness along the front row, but with addition of a freshman and return of key hitters, it will be a strength heading into the 2016 campaign.

Wilmot Union High School, coming off a 2-5 Southern Lakes Conference record, finishing sixth overall returns 5-foot-7 senior setter Devin Coleman, 6-foot senior outside hitter Lauren Daniels and 5-foot-11 junior middle blocker Becca Bell.

Coleman and Bell, coming off stellar summer club seasons where they finished third at a beach volleyball tournament at Milwaukee’s Bradford Beach, are the Lady Panthers’ co-captains.

“(They) each come into the season with huge expectations both for themselves as well as for the team,” said Lady Panthers’ coach Kevin Raap. “Both of them are very hard working. You won’t see them take plays off…it is imperative for a hitter and her setter to have good communication.”

While Coleman leads the offense, freshman newcomer Karina Leber, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker expects to complement Bell, Daniels and 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter Sam Serak on the front row.

Additionally, the Lady Panthers have 5-foot-9 junior outside hitter Stephanie Ollinger.

Rapp, who enters his fifth season at Wilmot, stated Leber’s arrival is a rarity.

“At 6-2, she is the tallest freshman I have gotten to work with at Wilmot,” Raap said. “In the first hour of tryouts, one of the tests I put each player through was an approach touch.”

The approach touch is test to determine how a player approaches a ball, which revealed she touched 10-feet, the equivalent of a basketball rim.

“She is going to be a huge block for teams to deal with,” Raap said.

With promising newcomer in the mix, and return of last year’s leader in kills, Daniels, and Bell, who led the team in blocks, Raap said the front line is stronger compared to last year.

“Last year, we hung our hat on the fact that we could play some scrappy defense,” Raap said, “We were outsized by many of our opponents.”

“This year will be a little different as we have five girls who are 5-10 or taller,” he added.
Raap projects Leber to replace departing senior Teya Gaines as the Lady Panthers middle blocker with Bell, Daniels and Serak taking the two outside positions, filling a spot vacated by graduate Sam Kirk.

“We will miss them,” said Raap about the losses of Kirk and Gaines.

With a bolstered front row, it will relieve the burden from the back row, where Sawyer Wightman held her own as the Lady Panthers libero, achieving a school record 1,012 digs before through her four years.

Despite the loss of Wightman and defensive specialist Sam Schloegl, the Lady Panthers welcome back 5-foot-5 junior libero Sara Bedessem, who spent her first two years at a high school north of Madison.

“We were fortunate enough to have Sara Bedessem move back to the area after living north of Madison for the past two years,” said Raap, adding junior newcomer Kylee Mulholland is also vying for the position.

Mulholland, along with the return of 5-foot-3 junior defensive specialists Sydney Helmuth and 5-8 senior Meaghan Biba to form the back row.

“Both (Helmuth and Biba) have shown improvement since last year,” he said.

Adding to the mix are junior middle blocker Ashley Lesko, senior right side hitter Maddie Martin, senior right side hitter Laney Videlka and junior outside hitter Rachel Jenkins.

The lineup is far from set, however, noting the Lady Panthers are still in process of finding the right rotation.

While the squad battles for positions, Raap has confidence this team can succeed, citing chemistry.

“We are a pretty solid group and the chemistry is clearly in our favor at this point in the season,” Raap said. “I am very much looking forward to the process that is this season, the journey the team will take me on.”


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