Lady Eagles Seek Revenge After Last Season

Photo is of 6th - 8th grade summer camp

Experience Is Sullivan’s Biggest Strength This Season

The Lady Eagles volleyball team came up short at districts last year and are looking to improve during the new season. Sullivan finished with a record of 12-15-6 last season. This was an extreme improvement from the prior season, which ended 8-20-3. Head Coach Sarah Rochleau is enthusiastic about the upcoming season and knows that the program will only keep improving.

“Our summer activities just finished up last week with our youth camp,” said Coach Rochleau. “We had really great participation all summer from our incoming high school girls. We attended a team competition in June, hosted a skills camp at SHS in July, and had numerous open gyms and scrimmages throughout the summer.”

Rochleau is looking towards the positive things in the future.

“Throughout the summer our upperclassmen have been doing a great job of establishing the right kind of culture in our gym,” Rochleau commented. “Athletes are showing up each day, ready to learn, not afraid to make mistakes, and having fun competing with and against each other on the court.”

Sullivan’s biggest strength this season is their experience. The Lady Eagles have seven returning seniors and three of those seniors have been seeing varsity play since their freshmen year.

However, with strengths come weaknesses and Sullivan is no exception.

“One area where we are continuing to develop is our middle hitter positions,” said Rochleau about their impending improvements. “We currently have several good candidates for those positions, and we will be working towards finding the right athletes to fill these spots.”

Rochleau has expectations for her players to meet.

“One expectation is going to be for us to improve upon last season,” Rochleau continued. “We came up short in our district match last year, so we are going to be working all fall towards being ready to play our best volleyball of the season when districts come around.”

The Four Rivers Conference is always tough.

“Hermann is always a foreboding opponent,” said Rochleau about the conference. “I would think that Pacific and Union will be ready to have a great season as well.”

Experience is the key strength this season.

“Standout players include our seniors, Emma Brune, Maci Nolie, and Olivia Witt,” finished Coach Rochleau. “All three of these athletes have received numerous post-season honors through their careers and have been working very hard in the off-season to be at their best for their final season as an Eagle.”

Witt finished last season with nine aces, six kills, three blocks, and 23 points.

Nolie was the lead performer in aces with 43. She also nailed 155 points with the most in one game being 12 against Washington. The same game she nailed four aces. Her season total of kills was 65.

Brune led the team in kills with 333. She also recorded four aces and 31 points. She finished with 127 digs on the season.