(Oakland) Riverside volleyball has a chance this season to accomplish something they have never done in the Quikstats era (2007). The Lady Dawgs could post a third straight winning season.
They went 26-13 in 2019 and 15-12 last year. On Tuesday they oppose Bedford and Essex in a triangular. Coach Brooke Flathers says, “I think we are well prepared. The girls have been working hard in practice and have bought into the different things we are trying to do. I think we have a good mix of girls this year.”
They return three of their top four hitters with Izzy Bluml, Veronica Andrushysyn, and Mack Olmstead-Mitchell coming back. Veronica Andrusyshyn and Izzy Bluml each had 150 kills or better last year and Mack Olmstead-Mitchell posted 70 kills. “Veronica will be a big force for us in the front row. Izzy Bluml is a senior and she’s ready to go and ready to peak this year so she’ll be another one. Mackenzie Olmstead-Mitchell she’s played on the outside, the middle, and the right so she’s one of those kids that will adapt to any situation she’s in and put the ball down.”
The team has to replace starting setter Kenna Ford. “I have a couple that we’ve been working with. Veronica Andrusyshyn will do some hitting and setting this year and then Ayla Richardson is a freshman that has never been a setter, but she just had some of those instincts and the personality that I thought she could step into that role. So we’ve been working on that with her.
In the back row Madi Baldwin returns with some experience. “Madi Baldwin has been doing a great job for us this year. She wants that libero position really bad. Carly Henderson was just a freshman last year and put up an incredible game for us all season long. We have quite a few kids that can play all the way around. We’ll be scrappy in the back row for sure.”
Coach Flathers says it’s a group that’s going to fight for everything. They hope to compete atop the Western Iowa Conference and get to state. They were in the regional finals two years ago. After Tuesday’s opener the team’s next action will be at the AHSTW Tournament on Saturday.
Riverside coach Brooke Flathers:
