Rochester volleyball preview

Lady Zs switching to 2-setter system, emphasizing tempo, communication

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Aubrey Wilson Amara Wieringa Ella Hake

Volleyball teams that move their mouths more tend to move their feet more.

That’s what Rochester third-year coach Laneia Strasser believes, and she has emphasized that through an offseason that included summer trips to leagues at John Glenn and Pioneer in addition to preseason practices.

She even plays music during practices, forcing the players to communicate loudly over the noise.

She talked about last season’s match against Southwood. Yes, Southwood has great players, as their Three Rivers Conference, sectional and regional titles would attest. But Strasser also noticed how much they communicated constantly with each other.

That is how they hope to rebound from a two-year span in which they have gone 16-46.

“I feel like that is one of the number one conversations that we have every day,” Strasser said. “The more you talk, the more you move.”

Strasser also believes that a team that communicates well will rely on each other more.

“You know, it’s very imperative that the back row tells the front row where the holes are – what’s open and what’s not open,” Strasser said. “It just builds a better trust out there with them when they all talk to each other as well. At practice, we do a lot of drills where they have to talk. You don’t have an option. A lot of times, we’ll crank up the music, and if they can’t hear each other, then you have to talk louder. This team I will say is the most vocal team I’ve had in my three years here so far, which is really exciting to me.”

While better communication might be the start of what Strasser hopes will be a cultural change, she also decided to make a tactical change by switching to a two-setter system.

Junior Aubrey Wilson, who was the sole setter going back early in her freshman season, will be one of the two setters in the new system. Sophomore Amara Wieringa will be the other setter.

The system is designed to take greater advantage of Wilson’s hitting and blocking abilities.

“I feel like last year I was missing one strong attacker in my front row, and Aubrey definitely fills that role,” Strasser said. “You can’t wish for a better athlete than Aubrey Wilson. If you look at surrounding counties, I would definitely say she’s at the top of the list of athletes. She’s smart. She studies the game. She knows the game. She gives her all. She’s competitive. She has drive. She has a huge role on every sports team at Rochester High School. She’s our quarterback.” 

Avarie Montel JJ Graber Brailyn Hunter

The team’s seniors are frontliners Ella Hake and Avarie Montel. The 6-0 Montel will be the team’s middle hitter. Hake’s previous experience is also out of the middle, and Strasser is still contemplating how she will use her with Montel.

Montel has recovered from a broken fibula during the offseason and should be an anchor as the middle hitter. “She was complaining of some soreness,” Strasser said of Montel. “She ran track last year. We came to find out she actually broke her fibula during track season, so she was in a boot for most of July. The timing of it was actually more ideal than not because we had moratorium for two weeks, so she had two weeks off just for that, and she just got cleared (Thursday), so that’s exciting. I keep reminding her to take her time. It’s a long season, and I want her to stay healthy because she’s a huge presence in the front row as far as blocking, and her hitting has come so far from her freshman year. When she connects, she connects hard.”

The program also has eight juniors, nine sophomores and 10 freshmen, and they will have a freshman team for the second straight year.

In the junior class, look for Brailyn Hunter to play outside hitter, and Kyra Doran is another junior known for her leaping ability in the front row.

Newcomer J.J. Graber, a junior and a transfer from Goshen, has impacted the team from the back row. 

Juniors Rilyn Strasser and Logyn Honkomp will also play in the back as the Lady Zs seek to recover from the graduation losses of Mia Howdeshell, Rylee Clevenger and Darah Strasser. Jenna Seuferer and Kaylea McCarty are other juniors who could have an impact. Howdeshell, Clevenger and Darah Strasser were three of the team’s top four diggers last year.

“Another junior that we’re excited about is J.J.,” coach Strasser said. “She’s a new girl at Rochester. … She’s going to play a lot of back row. J.J. has a great energy about her. She’s a talker. She’s a communicator. She’s positive. It’s been really fun to get to know her. The girls have all meshed really well with her. If you watched her out there playing today, you would never know that she’s a new girl on our team.”

Wieringa heads the sophomore class, and Maddie Bailon is another sophomore who received significant experience as a freshman.

“Maddie can jump out of the roof,” coach Strasser said.

Adalyn Gonzalez is a freshman who could get immediate varsity playing time.

“Gonzo, she’s every coach’s dream,” Strasser said. “She’s a left-handed, powerful, athletic girl. She just gets it. She’s going to definitely be a freshman to watch.”

Now that she is in her third year as coach, Strasser wants them playing at a faster tempo.

“I think that helps too with Aubrey’s experience running as a setter,” Strasser said. “Something that Amara’s going to have to get used to is a faster pace. It definitely should improve this year. Rome wasn’t built overnight, and I knew that coming in. I definitely see it getting better each year that I’ve been here.” 

The hope is that players build up confidence. The confidence angle sparked a t-shirt that the girls are wearing that says “we, not me.”

“The mental side of the sport is huge,” Strasser said. “I think last year sometime, my team had a little bit of a ‘me’ mentality of what am I doing wrong. It was a very smart class of girls, so they wanted to break down everything technical-wise instead of just mentally shaking off that mistake and moving on to the next one. You know, we would get behind, and then we would get behind three or four points, and you can’t get behind that many points in this game.

“So yeah, the confidence was a huge Achilles heel for us last year. We’ve talked a lot this year about how when you look around this gym in here, you don’t see yourself. You see each other. You have to play for each other. If you’re struggling with, you know, your passing, your teammate next to you has to be able to lift you up. They’ve got to help get you out of that rut and just playing more mentally tough.”

Lady Z notes

• The only change to the schedule will occur Sept. 27. Rochester has dropped out of the Warsaw tournament and added a tournament at Bremen.

• Stacey Wilson and Chase Brown will be Strasser’s assistant coaches and will share JV coaching responsibilities. Rebecca Bolinger has moved from the varsity staff to coach the seventh grade team. Samantha Walley and Ashley Burrus will coach the eighth and sixth grade teams, respectively.