St. Paul Lutheran Saints Clubhouse - 2009 St. Paul Volleyball Preview

Esther Mehl will be replacing Erin Mooney on our volleyball staff. Erin will be greatly missed and we wish her well as a stay at home mom. Esther was an All State Player at Saint Paul and currently holds our kills and digs records. She played college volleyball at Concordia University and has a passion for the game. Our players respond well to her and she brings a lot of youthful energy to the team. We are glad to have her on our staff. Lauren Payne will be joining us as the freshman coach. While she has no volleyball experience, she has a lot of coaching experience.

We lost 1 senior from our 2008 team. Ashley Brackman was our captain and was a member of the I-70 All Conference Team and the Class 2-A All District Team. Ashley will be deeply missed as a player and leader. This year we will return a highly decorated and veteran team.

We have 4 seniors returning. Madison Krause will return at her setter’s position and will start at weak side hitter. As a junior Madison was a member of the I-70 All Conference and Tournament Teams, and member of the 2-A All District and Regional Teams. Taylor Vogelsmeier will move back to Libero from outside hitter because of her passing skills and versatility. Taylor handles the ball very well. Last year Taylor was a member of the I-70 All Conference and Tournament Teams as well as being a member of the 2-A All District Team. Sara Reister returns as one of our top role players by playing any front row and back row position. Junior lettermen Dana Peters will return to her setting position and play weak side hitter. Last year Dana was a member of the I-70 All Conference and Tournament Teams. She also was selected to the 2-A All District, Regional, and All State Teams. Audrey Mehl will be moving from middle blocker to outside hitter and middle back. Audrey was a member of the I-70 All Tournament Team. Audrey is a good passer and is developing into a hard hitter. Samantha Mueller will again see considerable playing time since she can play most positions. Sophomore Meagan Nolte will return to her middle blocker position and will see more playing time in the back row. Meagan worked hard in the off season and came into camp in great shape. Sara Reisterer, Lauren Hamilton and Regan Ohlman will see considerable playing time at middle blocker. We are also thankful to have Seniors Sarah Hill and Sara Parks returning as our statisticians, Libero Tracker, and scorekeepers. They do an excellent job.

We had a lot of improvement during our camp. Freshmen Devon Heins and Marissa Brackman played very well in camp and will get also get varsity playing time. Marissa has won the outside hitters position on offense and middle back on defense. Devon will back up both our setters and play defense. Both Marissa and Devon handle the ball extremely well. Freshman Nicole Mueller has also won a varsity jersey. Freshman Logan Burrow shows a lot of promise and will practice with the varsity.

Our team will be similar to last year’s team. We have a lot of quickness, experience, and depth. Our weakness is our shortness. Most of our players are 5’5” or shorter, so we will again have to work harder to compensate for our lack of size. Last year we surprised a lot of teams. This year people expect us to do well.

Our coaching staff is enjoying working with our varsity, JV, and Freshmen teams. Our players are working hard and are making tremendous progress. The coaches are waiting to see who will emerge as the team leader. We are looking for a player that not only leads the team, but also consistently succeeds at crunch time. We are looking forward to the challenges of this coming year.

Click here to view 2009 schedule and roster