MANKATO — Coming off a 19-10 season and its first playoff win in two decades, senior libero Brynn Barnes looks to help the Mankato East volleyball team continue to trend in a positive direction.
Despite graduating some solid performers from a year ago, the Cougars will once again look for a strong defensive core — led by Barnes — to set up an offense led by senior middle hitter Jaiden Danielson and junior setter Grace Rustad.
“We made sure Brynn was in a defensive specialist position kind of looking forward to this year,” East coach Kris Holicky said. “She’ll be our starting libero and will play a lot more left back then middle back. We’ve done a lot this summer so I am really excited she’ll be ready to step into that role. Her conversation has improved and looking across the net and not just at her teammates.
“She’s looking for holes and is becoming a great leader with good communication skills. She is very supportive and is always raising her teammates up. I am looking for more attacking from her since she came from a place that only wanted her to pass the ball. Now, I want her to be able to send the ball across the net when needed.”
Barnes came up with 106 digs last season to go along with 20 set assists and 20 ace serves.
“I learned a lot last year as we started to do a lot of new things as a team,” Barnes said. “We’ve been doing a lot of different things so I am excited to see how everything comes together and works out for us. I’ve been really concentrating on communicating with my teammates and looking to show off our offense. My teammates appreciate me and I am looking forward to pushing them this year.
“You have to be able to brush things off and move on to the next point. There’s no breaks and you have to always be moving and looking ahead both on and off the court. I think a good libero is a good teammate. First off all, you have to push the girls and be a good communicator and keep bringing up the girls around you. This team is very close and the seniors gave us a good dynamic to work towards this year. … We’re going to build good connections just like last year.”
Danielson tallied 102 kills, 62 blocks and 30 service aces a year ago while Rustad collected 247 assists, 41 kills, 71 digs and 20 ace serves. Two other players — senior outside hitter McKenzie Wilkins (46 kills, 19 ace serves, 30 digs) and senior middle hitter Audrey Westman (53 kills, 50 blocks) — are expected to contribute up front while junior outside hitter Julianna Spear looks to play a major role after missing last season with an injury.
“We have some shoes to fill but I expect good things from them,” Holickey said. “We’ve got some height and there’s good chemistry with the returning players. We’re going to be aggressive and go after loose balls.”
Other players looking for playing time include senior right-side hitter Mali Blasl, junior right-side Payton Farmer, senior defensive specialists Sarah Hemish and Kayla Kapsner along with junior middle Greta Soine and junior defensive specialist Elizabeth Jones.
East opens its season Thursday at Red Wing.