Local volleyball teams start setting, spiking Saturday's Amherst Invite hosts area teams By MIKE KEMMETER of The Gazette Youth and inexperience can sometimes plague teams, but Stevens Point Area Senior High girls volleyball coach Steve Wehrwein is confident his team will grow up quickly. The Panthers, behind seniors Amber Lenze and Kristin Rosicky, also have a trio of returning juniors with varsity experience. That means over half of the SPASH team did not earn a varsity letter last year. "We're going to be very young," Wehrwein said. "We only have two returning senior letterwinners. And they'll provide good leadership." Besides Lenze and Rosicky, the Panthers return juniors Cassie Dudeck, Rachel Kreuser and Darcia Wesenberg. "Just because we're young doesn't mean we're not going to be good. Some of the lower classmen players are good volleyball players," Wehrwein said. "We won't show strong early. As these people gain experience, we're going to get better and better. I'd say by midseason, we'll be a tough volleyball team." The Panthers open their season this weekend at its own SPASH Invitational, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Wisconsin Valley Conference has a new look this year as defending champion D.C. Everest has a new coach. Everest's former coach left to lead Rhinelander. Wehrwein expects the Panthers to be in a group with those two teams, Wausau West, Wausau East and Merrill. "I'd have to say Marshfield is the preseason favorite, Wehrwein said. "But I'd like to think we're in the next pack nipping at their heels. Rhinelander and D.C. Everest both have new coaches, so that will change the Valley makeup." Pacelli High School Without any juniors on their roster, sophomores will see a great deal of court time for the Cardinals. First-year coach Shelly Johnson (in her second stint as Pacelli coach) has a quartet of seniors to lead Pacelli, which had a disappointing 1998 season. Laura McCorkell, Kristin Mitchell, Lyndsey Johnson and Cindy Lila are all back for their final year. Toni Johnson, who played on the varsity team as a freshman, heads the sophomores. "Without any juniors to build on, I'm going to put a big emphasis on sophomores," Coach Johnson said. "Because we have smaller numbers they're going to play a lot. "For this year we'll be able to field varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams. We'll have about 24 girls, so they'll be playing a lot more." The Cardinals will get their first action on the court Saturday at the Amherst Invitational. In the Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference, perennial top team Eau Claire Regis will likely lead the hunt for the conference title. "Eau Claire Regis will be back strong. I would expect Marshfield Columbus (to be good)," Johnson said. "I think those are going to be the best teams in the conference. "This year will be very interesting. But I think in two years, we'll have a really good team." Amherst High School The Falcons have some big shoes to fill after the team lost four all-conference players to graduation. With Kari Thompson, Melissa Schweitzer, Kelly Konkol and Jenny Pitcher gone, Amherst coach Gregg Jensen is looking to five seniors and his junior class to step up. "We're going to be pretty young. We're going to need juniors to learn quickly," Jensen said. Helping juniors Anne Stanislawski, Jenny Orsund, Becca Konkol, Angela Sbertoli and Katie Bohm catch on will be seniors Melissa Kayon, Meghan Simkins, Erin Jensen, Ali Juris and Ivory Pennebecker. Sophomore Jamie Krutza will likely see time with the varsity. Jensen said the juniors are no strangers to competition after playing parts in the softball and basketball state championship teams. "The junior class has been big with the softball and basketball teams going to state," he said. "They're good enough athletes so they can be competitive. "We'll be all right. We've got some decent athletes." Amherst fans will get their first look at the Falcons Saturday at the Amherst Invitational, starting at 8:30 a.m. In the CWC large division, Jansen expects Weyauwega-Fremont and Bonduel to be at the top of the conference. "I think we'll be right with them. We're going to struggle early. But we have (two) weeks (until our first dual match)," he said. "We have enough ability to compete. We'll have nights where we'll be able to compete with people in our conference. "The bottom line is how quickly the juniors can learn. They're filling some pretty big holes." Almond-Bancroft High School Almond-Bancroft returns a quintet of seniors and junior Sarah Berry from last year's Central Wisconsin Conference Small Division third place team. A-B (11-5 CWC, 16-10-1 overall in 1998) has seniors Stephanie Jenz, Tabitha Sawyer, Krista Cummings, Nicole Johnson and Lindsay Folan back for another run in the conference. The Eagles start their season Saturday in the Amherst Invitational. "We should have a good season. The parts are all there, it's just a matter of putting them together as a team," A-B coach George Young said. "We're probably counting a lot on Tabitha Sawyer to be our leader as our setter. Stephanie Jenz and Sarah Berry are probably going to be our big hitters." Young said the top teams in the conference include defending champion Iola-Scandinavia, Bowler and Tigerton. Rosholt High School With more girls on the team in several years and only two starters gone from last year's team, Rosholt coach JoAnn Heroux is looking for the Hornets to challenge the leaders in the CWC Small Division. "We have a good all-around, strong team. All positions are strong," Heroux said. "We have a lot of girls to choose from. "We only lost two starters (Leslie Zinda and All-CWC Brooke Larson). Hopefully we'll be right up there and ready to go." Heading the Hornets list of returnees are seniors Lyndsey Carter, Shelly Sadogierski and Amber Rogolla. Junior Lana Daulton and sophomore Steph Wierzba will join the seniors on varsity. Newcomers who will likely see varsity action are junior Jenna Eschenbach and freshman Allie Larson. Rosholt kicks off its season Saturday in the Amherst Invitational. Heroux said the team came into practice in good condition, which is allowing the team to work more on technique in the early goings. "The girls really came into the season in good shape. So the conditioning part is not as hard as some seasons," she said. In the conference, Heroux expects the Hornets to battle Iola-Scandinavia and Wild Rose for the small division title. "I see ourselves up on top. Iola always has a good team," Heroux said. "It's a tough conference."