By Chris Parker
Three seniors return to lead a Galena volleyball team coming off a 14-10-1 season. Those three seniors are: Sierra Ledford (setter and right side hitter), Rina Keltner (setter and right side hitter) and Addison Baker (defensive specialist).
“All three are great team leaders and great role models for the underclassmen,” Galena head coach Joe Miller said.
Ledford is a four-year varsity starter. She had 72 kills and 131 assists last season. Keltner is a two-year varsity player while Baker enters her first year on varsity.
Two honorable mention all-conference selections in junior Taylor Jones (libero) and sophomore Kaesha Walter (middle hitter). Jones led the team in digs (436) and serve receptions (428) last year. Walter was second on the team in kills (101) and blocks (43) last year as a freshman.
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“Taylor did a great job last year in that (libero) role and we expect even more this year as our main defensive stopper,” Miller said. “Kaesha is one of the most athletic players to ever come through Galena, and she will be our go-to player for scoring and blocking as a middle hitter.”
Bree Rice saw action in 70 varsity sets as a freshman. She will focus on outside hitting this season after playing multiple positions last year. Marissa Harris will see more varsity action at middle and possibly right side hitter as a junior.
A trio of freshmen in Averi Foster (outside hitter/setter), Baylee Stacy (defensive specialist) and Maribelle Martin (middle hitter/blocker) will make an immediate impact on the varsity level.
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“Our passing has been really good during the summer which has allowed our offense to run more options. We have also played very good defense so hopefully those two things will continue into the season,” Miller said. “Other than Maribelle and Marissa we are pretty short on the front row so blocking will be something we have to work really hard on as the season progresses.”
Galena will host a four-team jamboree on Aug. 26 before opening the season on Aug. 28 at the Verona Invitational.
“Based on our summer results, I would expect us to compete for a conference championship and a strong district run,” Miller said. “We are very young but we have some very gifted and athletic players so hopefully we can put it all together early on and have a successful season.”
