(photo courtesy of SPX Sports)
SAINT PETER, Minn. – Coming off the program’s sixth MIAC championship, the Gustavus volleyball team is set to begin its 2019 season Friday when it travels to Elmhurst for four games. The Gusties enter the season ranked No. 18 in the AVCA preseason poll and were picked to finish second in the MIAC. The Gusties lost a significant core of players from last season but Head Coach Rachelle Sherden, who is in her 10th season leading Gustavus, looks to her returners to lead the way in 2019.
“We have a lot of new faces in the gym but our upperclassmen have done a really good job of taking the underclassmen under their wing and showing them the ropes both on and off the court early,” said Sherden. “Even though it’s a lot of new faces I think they’re adjusting really well and picking up on the new things we’re training and they’re all very coachable so it’s been really fun to see how much they’ve grown in just a week and a half.”
The Gusties’ 2019 roster includes nine returning players and 10 first-years. Among those returners is Kate Holtan (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) who was named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and AVCA All-Central Region last season. In 2018 Holtan led the team and was second in the MIAC with 382 kills, averaging 3.38 per set. The Rochester, Minn. native also led the team with 16 double-doubles, third most in a single season in program history, and 38 service aces.
Rising sophomore Kaikea Welsh (Kansas City, Mo.) was also a big contributor last season, garnering 177 kills with an attack percentage of .269 to go along with a team-high 91 blocks. Kylee Cox (So., Brooklyn Center, Minn.) and Hailey Embacher (Jr., Mankato, Minn.) return in the back row for the Gusties with the duo recording 229 and 179 digs, respectively, last season. Ellie Anderson (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) appeared in 73 sets last season for the Gusties and tallied 19 service aces.
With more than half the team being new this season, coach Sherden is excited about what her first-years bring to the table.
“They’re all really talented players but beyond that they fit into our culture and fit the identity of Gustavus volleyball,” she said. “How fast they’re picking up on things and how bought in they are has made our chemistry as a team possibly the best I’ve seen it this early in the season with such a new group.”
The Gusties have some big shoes to fill at setter and libero with the loss of three-time All-American and three-time MIAC Player of the Year Nora Holtan, alongside four-time All-Conference and two-time MIAC Defensive Player of the Year Brittany Luethmers.
“When we lose any player to graduation it’s always going to be a different atmosphere in the gym with those that are returning but we don’t really talk about or focus on anything from past years,” Sherden said. “So for us it’s just figuring out what system is going to fit best for the makeup of our team and that might look different year to year. This year we’re going to start a little bit different system than we have in the past years because we’ll have two setters on the court.”
Early in the season the Gusties will be challenged, taking on a team ranked in the top-15 in each of its first three weekends. The group, though, is not focused on long term goals early on, but rather taking things step-by-step.
“For our team we really focus on breaking up the season into small chunks,” Sherden stated. “Just like every other team in the country our goal is to be the last team standing, however, we say that once and don’t talk about it again. We set mini-goals for ourselves in practice and then set measurable goals in matches to see how we’re doing in a lot of different areas and then finding things we need to continue to work on. With so many new faces in the gym, the first few weekends are just about finding out where we’re at and then setting benchmarks from there. Early on we’re just really focused on how we’re maintaining integrity to our standards in the gym that everyone is still learning, but they’re picking up on it really fast.”
The Gusties open up their season this weekend with contests at 3 and 5 p.m. tomorrow and matches at 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday.