The NWN sat down with varsity head coach Stacey Metoyer to talk about the Girls Volleyball team, the season, and communicating better on the court.
NWN: How is the team looking this year?
Metoyer: The varsity volleyball team is looking very good so far, we have strong players in each position. We had many seniors graduate last year, but we have players that have gotten extremely good in the off-season by playing club volleyball. One added strength this year is that we have two dominate outside hitters. They are both tall and can consistently put the ball away. Their names are sophomore Olivia Rusek and senior Milena Zalloni. We are also starting a senior setter named Sam Chao. Our Libero is back from last year, junior Molly Kleppin. Molly played a vital role in why we made it to the Sectional final last year. We have two good middles; sophomore Jenny Grimm and junior Melanie Vujovich. Our starting right sides are senior Marina Sostaric and junior Emily English. We also have some key players off the bench senior Jinny Park and junior Monika Ciezynski in the back row.
NWN: How tough does the schedule look this year?
Metoyer: Our schedule is tough as always. We have very good teams in our conference that we play. We also play in three tournaments throughout the year starting with the New Trier Summers End Tournament.
NWN: What are some of the team’s strengths and weaknesses?
Metoyer: One added strength this year is that we have two dominate outside hitters. They are both tall and can consistently put the ball away.
NWN: What are the biggest areas that need improvement on the team?
Metoyer: One weakness right now that we are working on is the amount of talking on the court. We need to have more of it. As the girls get more comfortable with each other, we should see more communication on the court.
NWN: Realistically how well will the team do this year?
Metoyer: Because of the high level of skill that our players have, we realistically should do very well. The team last year broke an all-time school record with amount of wins in a single season, which was 23. The team this year is looking to beat that number.
West’s Varsity team won Wednesday, Sept. 7 against Niles North. Its next home meet is scheduled for Sept. 15 against Waukegan.
