by Dave DeMars
news@thenewsleaders.com
Bump! Set! Dink!
Bump! Set! Slam! Kill!
If those words aren’t familiar to you, or if they cause a bit of alarm because of their aggressive sounds – not to worry. That and a whole lot more are all part of the lexicon of volleyball. Ask any of the girls on the Sartell volleyball team and they will tell you what each one means, and then they will probably volunteer to show you how each movement is performed.
It’s late summer now, and this past week was the first week of practice for the Sartell volleyball team. Some of the girls have been playing all summer in different leagues or in pick-up games. Some are coming back and have to sharpen the skills learned in past years. But all of them have desire, energy and a passion to play the game.
On the second day of practice, coach Sarah Hornseth, in her fourth year coaching varsity volleyball, is high on this year’s team.
“You can tell today there is just a lot of energy in the gym. Kids are excited to be here and that is what we want,” Hornseth said. “We want them to be here because they love to be here.”
And they do love it. Practice is over and a half dozen girls are still on the floor. Some are working on serves. Others work on digs, bumps and passing. And nearly every girl tries her hand at playing above the net and slamming that ball down on the other side for a kill.
“We have a core group of a couple of seniors and a junior back,” she said. “We are young and we will have a lot of new faces on our team, but we have a lot of potential.”
What she likes best is the way the team seems to be coming together. A lot of the seniors and older girls are stepping into the leadership roles and setting the positive examples for younger players, Hornseth said. Younger players are bringing the enthusiasm and energy necessary to shore up the holes in the line up due to graduating seniors last year. There will be mistakes because of inexperience, but the girls are smart and they will catch on quickly.
Asked about the competition the team will face this year, Hornseth was a little tentative but respectful in her comments about opponents.
“Rocori is typically very good,” she said. “Alexandria has always been a battle for us. Sauk Rapids has been a good battle, Tech has been a good battle – you go into every Central Lakes Conference match and you know it’s going to be a battle back and forth. There is never a guaranteed win.”
That sense of respect carries over into the preparation for the year. She and her coaches tell the girls every game starts even up and if they work hard and stick to the game plan, Sartell will turn some heads and win some games.
“You have to have that effort and that passion and drive there,” Hornseth said. “The innate passion of our players is what makes it so promising.”
She chuckles when the term “leapers” is mentioned, and she watches as one girl slams the ball over the net into the opposing side.
“Oh yeah,” Hornseth said as she begins to review her players. “We do. Mya Gessell is just a natural athlete. She can really lay the ball down. Lexi Winter is a great all around player. Maddy Schnettler is a senior captain who is very versatile and can play pretty much any position, and she is willing to play any position. If we are looking at younger kids we have Elizabeth Dille who is going to be a ninth grader this year and can really do some damage.”
Just then Dille rose up high over the net, swatted the ball and drove it down hard on the other side as if to reaffirm her coach’s comment.
Because of the loss of a lot of powerful swingers from last year, Hornseth said defense is going to be key this year.
“Defense is going to win us games,” she said. We need to be scrappy and we need to be selfless. There’s just no room for being selfish.”
That means the girls are going to have to spend a lot of time on the floor. Lots of floor burns. Lots of bumps and bruises. And lots of excitement as they dive for balls that might otherwise be let go.
“See the ball – go and get it. No ball is a dead ball,” Hornseth said.
That kind of play can easily result in injury, but so far everyone is healthy. One girl is out from the summer with a torn meniscus, and another girl coming back after six months of rehab and recuperation from an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.
Hornseth returned to an earlier theme.
“You can see the energy they bring – the passion they bring,” she said. “They are willing to do whatever it takes to benefit the team. That is where you see a real team start to form.”
It isn’t just on the court they come together as a team; they are a team off the court as well. Every year the team sponsors a food-bank drive. During the past four years, they have been able to collect and donate more than a ton of food to Catholic Charities, Hornseth said.
“They are not learning just volleyball skills here – it’s life skills,” she said.
Coach Sarah Hornseth (center in the pink shirt) is surrounded by players on the Sartell volleyball team during practice.
Katie Farrand, a freshman, focuses on making contact and driving the ball over the net with a slight arc.
Coach Sarah Hornseth looks on as senior Bailey Dumonceaux spots the ball just in time to make a bump and pass to the setter.
Junior Kendra Bokelman does a hand bump. Open hand slap will be called and the point awarded to the other team. A closed hand bump needs a little finesse to maintain control of the ball.
Sophomore Hope Grasswick watches as the ball leaves her control. Now it’s up to the setter to give the spiker her chance to drive the ball home for a score.
Lexie Winter, a senior, goes high above the net to knock down a kill. Though not tall, Winter has good vertical leaping ability that allows her to play above the net.
Senior Addy DeMaine (on the right in background) screams as junior Miah Gessell shows how to knock down a kill.
Senior Maddie Schnettler goes low to dig out a good bump and pass to the setter.
Freshman Elizabeth Dille is one of those young prospects coach Sarah Hornseth expects to contribute to this team. “She has great physical ability and she is a leaper,” Hornseth said.
