The Althoff girls’ volleyball team opens the season ranked No. 4 in a National Athletic Association of Private Schools Division 1 (NAAPS) poll.
Juniors Karinna Gall and Katie Wemhoener return to anchor the defending Class 3A state champs, who finished last season 41-1 and ranked fifth in the final NAAPS rankings. Other key returnees for the Crusaders include Claire Franke, Grace Strieker, Mary Wessel and Lauren Borik.
Former assistant Tony Miner takes over as coach from Sara Thomas-Dietrich, who left to become an assistant at Missouri State University. Despite all their acclaim, Miner is warning the Crusaders nothing will be given to them this season.
“I know that I’ve been here as an assistant and we have a lot of girls back who were here last year, but this is a new year and we’re still trying to figure things out,” Miner told the Belleville News-Democrat. “It’s a great honor to be ranked so high, but because it’s based from last year, we’re not going to look at it on how we do this year. It just adds another accolade based on last year that makes the target on our backs bigger.’’
Miner hints he doesn’t think that team chemistry will ever be an issue for the Crusaders.
“One of the things you don’t get with a lot of teams is that these kids just love playing volleyball together,” he said. “They’ve grown up together and played with and against each other for most of their lives while in grade school. Just the fact that they are back in the gym getting ready to start another high school season is exciting for them.”
Althoff opens its season on Aug. 23 hosting Columbia.
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