If the Aberdeen Christian volleyball matches seem to be going by quicker than normal this season, there’s likely a good reason for it. The Knights plan on running a quick offense to keep opposing foes on their heels.
“I want to run a pretty quick offense and throw people off a little bit more,” said Christian coach Sara Powell, in her third year as head coach of the program. “A lot of people can’t defend it as well, so we’ll try.”
Powell believes that she has the personnel in place to implement the quick-strike strategy.
“That’s my goal. I want it fast. These girls are quick. They can hit the ball,” Powell said. “If we can run some quicks and get stuff off, then it will be good.”
The offense is not necessarily easy to run, requiring spot on timing.
“Lots of practice,” Powell said. “The girls are up for the challenge.”
Christian will feature a lineup of one junior, four sophomores and a freshman. While young, the Knights are far from inexperienced.
“These girls put in a ton of work this summer. I’m super impressed with them,” Powell said. “They’re going to be ready to go.”
The Knights will be led in the middle by Arianna Johnson. The six-foot freshman was a key member of last year’s squad as an eighth-grader.
“She’s improved even more,” Powell said.
Johnson will be flanked by outside hitters, Payton Skarin and Jolie Fogarty.
“Both of those will play six rotations for me,” Powell.
The backrow will be anchored by libero Alexis Isakson.
“I’ve got to trust to our defense,” Powell said. “She’s back there and she’ll take care of it.”
Other key members will be Brynn Powell, Sophia Eichler, and Sophie Glynn.
Additional help will come from Sawyer Schwan.
“She’s a strong server,” Powell said. “She’s going to be all around, setter. I’ll run a 6-1 this year with just her setting.”
Powell said a big key to the game plan lies in Fogarty.
“Jolie is going to be a huge asset to our team being able to play backrow, and front row and hitting,” she said. “She’s become really strong.”
With the Knights still on the young side, Powell said the mental aspect of the game will be crucial to the team’s success this season. Christian has two new assistant coaches, Anna Fjeldheim and Aspen Johnson, who will help in that development, according to Powell.
“They just told the girls (Tuesday), they’ve been on both sides where they’ve had a team where they’ve been able to go mentally strong in the other direction, and the team that went mentally strong was where they went to the state championship,” Powell said. “I think them having experience in that and them talking to them about that, I think that’s going to help them a lot. So I’m very thankful for both Anna and Aspen to be able to step up and kind of help lead them mentally, too.”
The Knights start their season at Class B state runner-up Warner on Thursday.
Powell said expectations are high surrounding the Christian program this season. She said the biggest piece to the puzzle will be the team’s mental preparation and focus.
“I think them just having confidence in themselves to be able to do it. Like I said, it’s mental,” Powell said. “It’s so mental and with being still young, they still have stuff to learn and work on, but if they can just work together and trust each other, and continue to just be mentally strong, I think that they’ll have a great season.”
