Farrar, Wingers Settling In with Sophomore-Heavy Roster

Having younger rosters gives teams the opportunity to test players at different positions. It also allows teams to reimagine their expectations of the season.

So far, that has been the case for Lake City’s and Red Wing's volleyball teams. Both rosters have had plenty of turnover due to graduating seniors who hardly left the court.

In a match Tuesday, between two of the youngest teams in the HVL, they had five seniors combined in the starting lineup. Many more were sophomores. Each team's roster is practically all sophomores to begin with.

"I think we've handled it good. I think everyone has to be ready," Red Wing junior Elizabeth Farrar said following the match against the Tigers on Tuesday. "We have a lot of young players. We have 14 sophomores. Everyone has to be ready for their turn." 

Everyone, including Farrar. 

The Wingers returned their big hitter, senior Alexa Guetzlaff, and their two best defensive back-row players, junior Finley Kamps and senior Reagan Schulz among others. Senior outside hitter Cora Losey and senior middle Camryn Ball had their roles set, too. 

Farrar, who played JV all last season, was likely to get her chance to step into the lineup this season. Where on the court and how much she'd be involved was still yet to be determined. 

Farrar said she recognized early enough that her role could be on the outside. 

“I think I had a good idea. I know Camryn was planning on playing middle and moving from outside to middle. I was preparing to play more on the outside. In the offseason, I was playing outside at club," she said. "I just wanted to play my game. I wanted to be hitter the setter could go to just to get it in. It's nice to get kills, but my role is just keep the rally going." 

In the fourth set of the match against the Tigers, Farrar played to her strengths. She lifted the Wingers to a major rally with coverage at the net in the middle and added a few kills that brought extra excitement from her teammates. With Guetzlaff swinging free, Losey picking her spots in the middle of the court, Farrar had two kills that kept up the momentum. She placed the ball down the sideline, which helped the Wingers build a 22-10 advantage. 

Keeping the positive vibes going with well-place shots, Farrar and the Wingers clinched the four-set victory, 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 25-13.

When the Wingers were running away with the fourth set, it was offense from all angles. Farrar, Guetzlaff, Losey and Ball all contributed.

That’s the key now for the Wingers who need their defense to be willing to receive the harder shots and cover any tips. The front row needs to swing without fear.

“We got blocked a lot. I think not being afraid of that,” Farrar said. “Just keep swinging. Then the defense was just really good at covering when we did get blocked. We have to keep positive energy. Sometimes when we have our lows, we get kind of tentative, and tip or send free balls over. We've got to keep being aggressive.”

Getting blocks was key for the Tigers throughout the match as they totaled 12 blocks. Junior Eden Boe led the team with six with sophomore Paige Luhman adding three. In the team’s previous match against Zumbrota-Mazeppa, senior Dylann Porisch and Luhman each had 5.5 blocks.

On offense, the Tigers turned to sophomore hitter Leah Greenawalt. Her biggest swings came in the third set where the Tigers had the Wingers running around trying to keep a ball alive. Greenawalt’s 12 kills led the team.

Both Luhman and Greenawalt step into a more established, full-time position on the team after playing supporting roles in the back row last season.

The Tigers had five wins a season ago. Currently they sit at 6-7 overall with their younger lineup. Red Wing is still figuring out how good they can be at 4-3 overall as they head into a weekend Farmington Invitational on Saturday.