Tigerhawks welcome new challenges in South Iowa Cedar League

COLFAX — When Colfax-Mingo’s volleyball team went to the Central College team camp, head coach Michelle Grant got a good look at what things may look like in the South Iowa Cedar League this season.

And the second-year coach is anxious to start a new era in a conference much more suited for the Class 1A Tigerhawks.

“I hope it helps as far as confidence goes. We would play so well last year and still lose. It’s frustrating and hard to stay confident under those circumstances,” said Grant about playing in the much larger Heart of Iowa Conference.

“Just watching the games at the Central team camp, I can tell the speed of the game for who we are going to play is going to help. We are also young, so this is what we need. We can’t be playing North Polk and Nevada’s seniors with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores.”

There will be a few returners helping Colfax-Mingo break into a new league, but for the most part, the Tigerhawks will welcome several newcomers to the varsity lineup.

Sophomore Ries Wilson led the Tigerhawks with 155 kills, 44 aces and 19 aces last year. She’s back in 2015.

Junior Dakota Hostetter was second in kills with 61 and second in blocks with 16. She also returns.

So does junior Aranda Woods and sophomore Megan Earles, who had 25 kills and 207 assists, respectively, last year.

But the Tigerhawks lost Allison Teed (55 kills), Sara Lahart (305 digs), Olivia Maggard (24 aces) and Dakota Brodka (19 kills) to graduation and several other players with remaining eligibility decided not to be a part of this year’s squad or transferred to another school.

That’s a big reason why Grant will have to rely on several freshmen and sophomores in the 2015 season.

But practices have gone much smoother in Grant’s second season. She doesn’t have to spend extra time on teaching her style of play.

“It’s always easier after year one,” Grant said. “I actually asked a few of the players on the first day of practice if they remembered how to start this shindig and they said yes.

Last year, the warmup was our whole practice because we had to walk through the basics and were teaching the fundamentals.”

Leading the way at hitter this year will be Wilson, Hostetter and Woods. Earles will be the starting setter again.

Wilson has made marked improvement from her freshman year. But a knee injury may slow her early in the season.

“Ries has made huge strides. I came into an open gym and thanked her high jump coach for improving her leaping ability. She was very impressive,” Grant said. “She has some knee issues right now, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Hostetter will be on the cross country team again, so Grant is unsure when she will have her and when she will not. But when she’s on the court, she’ll provide the Tigerhawks with a second hitting option behind Wilson. Grant called Woods one of her “wild cards” this season.

Aside from the team-high 207 assists, Earles also had 138 digs, which ranked fourth on the team a year ago.

“Megan won’t get enough recognition for what she does, but she is very good at what she does,” Grant said.

Earles may not be the only setter for the Tigerhawks though. Grant has been impressed with sophomore Hailey Wamsher, enough to potentially allow her to switch the team from a 5-1 to a 6-2.

“We couldn’t do that last year, but Hailey is making me seriously consider it this year,” Grant said. “She has been very impressive as a setter so far.”

The rest of the varsity will feature a handful of freshmen. That list includes Colbee Cunningham, Mackensie Brown, Chelsea Russell, Delaney Underwood and Shaylee Shedenhelm.

Cunningham is probably the only one of that group who has a chance to play all the way around, according to Grant.

And Shedenhelm just recently joined the team, but Grant knows she is someone who can help the program.

“I know she’s good, but I have never seen her play anything but softball,” Grant said. “She was the MVP of her eighth-grade volleyball team so I know she can play.

“Once Colbee got going at the Central team camp, she was unstoppable. I was really impressed. She scored like 10 straight points with her serve at one point.”

Another wild card for Grant could be sophomore McKeely Tjaden. Tjaden has the chance to be a solid net player for the Tigerhawks, but Grant said she continues to have issues with her shoulder.

If Tjaden can stay healthy, and provide the Tigerhawks with solid play at the net, Grant may use Woods as the libero. If not, Colfax-Mingo will likely go without the back-row specialist.

The Tigerhawks may need a few matches under their belt to find out what lineups work best for Grant.

“Our first varsity matches are a tournament at Twin Cedars,” Grant said. “I can see us having about five different rotations and using them all to see what we look like with each of them.”

The Tigerhawks, who went 5-24 last year, were the only 1A school remaining in the HOIC when they decided to move to the SICL. In their new league, eight of the 10 schools are 1A and Colfax-Mingo is the fourth largest school behind North Mahaska (2A), BGM (2A) and Sigourney (1A).

Keota won the league at 10-0 last year, while Iowa Valley went 9-1 and Lynnville-Sully and Sigourney each finished 7-3.

Grant doesn’t have specific expectations for the Tigerhawks in her second season, but she is hoping to get closer to .500 and getting to double-digit victories would be an “unbelievably successful season.”

The season-opening tournament at Twin Cedars isn’t until Sept. 12. The Tigerhawks will have five home matches, beginning with Belle Plaine on Sept. 14.