(Anita, IA) – CAM volleyball has been practicing for the last two weeks to prepare for their second scrimmage of the season at Lenox and head coach Jenna McDonald could not be more excited for her Cougars this season. Last season, CAM went 24-8 overall and only lost two conference games in the regular season. Notably, the Cougars were led by senior setter Breeanna Bower as she had 534 assists just last season alone. Bower also was second on the team in aces with 39 and had a 97% serving percentage. This year, CAM will also be missing senior Reese Synder as she was second on the team in digs with 308 last season and had a 90% serving percentage. Coach McDonald knows that those will be hard shoes to fill, but knows that this year’s seniors will fill them successfully.
These seniors will have to become leaders this year to help push the younger players forward toward success. Most of them have had varsity experience since their sophomore year which will help to develop the younger talent for the Cougars.
Coach McDonald is looking for four seniors to take a leadership role this season. Eva Steffensen was more than a leader last season as she had 237 kills for the Cougars, leading the team in that category and in solo blocks with 32. Emma Follman was second on the team in kills with 151 and was second in solo blocks with 24 while contributing on the serving end with 34 aces. Meredith Rich led the team in aces with 70 last season and led the team in digs with 317. Jenna Platt also was a big component last season for the Cougars as she had 173 digs. Coach McDonald has seen these four lead the Cougars on the floor and looks for them to do the same all throughout the season.
As CAM has lost their primary setter Breanna Bower from last season, coach McDonald is looking for a new setter to take the spot. One thing that she is focusing on is having her team make it easier on the floor for their new setter as this is a hard role to transition into.
CAM will be battling it out in their first tournament at AHSTW on August 26th at 8:00 am. KSOM will cover the triangular match against East Union and Exira-EHK at CAM on August 29th at 5:30 pm.
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