Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Eleventh-year head coach Amy Vorst has helped guide Lake to heights not previously seen in the program’s history.
The Flyers have won five straight Northern Buckeye Conference titles and made four consecutive trips to the district championship. The past two seasons, they’ve advanced to the regional tournament, coming within one win of making the state tournament in 2023.
“It says a lot about the kids' dedication to the program,” Vorst said. “We do a lot during the summer, and we had good attendance the whole time. The kids really are dedicated to volleyball and to Lake volleyball, and they're the ones that are doing all the work. The kids bought into (the thought) that it takes hard work to be good, and that's what they're doing.”
Last year, the Flyers finished 19-7 overall, including a 13-1 record in NBC play — beating out Eastwood by one game for the league title after splitting the season series with them. After capturing a second straight district title, the team fell short in a regional semifinal against Cortland Lakeview.
“We have almost all of our kids back, and a lot of the kids that were on that team,” Vorst said. “They know what it means to compete at that level. They know what it means to prepare to compete at that level. I think they are motivated to get back there.”
The foundation for the Lake volleyball program these next two years will be a strong junior class, which has nine players in the program overall — Calli Conley, Lucy Boos, Laynie Meadows, Kennedy Falkenberg, Mylah Vorst, Caity Extine, Harlow Haberland, Jada Jerew, and Sophia Rudey.
Vorst said the group is reminiscent of her son Derek’s senior class with Rossford basketball a few years ago.
“It’s incredible, and the thing that's cool about it is that they're all good kids,” she said. “They're all nice. They all get along. They're all super hard workers. They're all dedicated to volleyball. You don't get classes like this very often. It reminds me of Derek's group of guys that were with him all through high school. This is another special group like that. They all get along, they all work hard, and they all have a common goal.”
Among that group, several will play big roles for Lake as they look to replace a four-person senior class that included Sydney Marchetto, Sydney Brown, Keira Magers and Lyla Costanzo.
Marchetto and Magers were both named First Team All-NBC.
“They definitely leave big shoes to fill,” Vorst said. “We definitely are going to miss those kids, but we have kids who are hungry to fill those spots.”
Mylah Vorst, a First Team All-NBC selection a year ago, anchors the team in the middle.
“I think she's going to be one of the best hitters in the league,” Amy Vorst said. “She's our go-to when we're in-system. She has a pretty big IQ. We just have to keep her healthy. She wants to play at the next level. She's gone to a few camps, and we've talked to a few coaches. So she's eager to get on the court and kind of prove herself.”
Extine and sophomore Harlow Haberland are competing for the second spot in the middle behind Vorst, and whoever doesn’t fill that role will play on the right side.
“They’re both really good at both positions,” Vorst said.
Helping fill Brown’s role at the pin, players such as Meadows, Falkenberg and Boos could see time there. Vorst also said that Conley has done very well this summer at libero, where Marchetto was primarily last year.
“Calli is serve-receive-passing very well,” Vorst said. “She’s reading the ball well, and she’s one of our toughest servers. I think she’s going to be one of the best liberos in the league.”
Vorst said all her juniors have made a jump in talent and skill from last year, including Meadows, who is coming off a First Team All-NBC season.
“Lainey was a big six-rotation kid for us,” she said. “She played on Mylah’s club volleyball team this year and did a great job. She's been passing super, super well for us, and she also can also terminate the ball, so I look forward to her having a really big year.”
Boos, who battled some injuries last year, recently got a clean bill of health.
“Lucy's a kid that we have to have on the floor,” Vorst said. “She’s another kid who works her tail off. She'll have a big impact.”
Extine, a multi-sport athlete who transferred in from Rossford last year before having to sit out the second half of the season due to transfer rules, is back.
Vorst said she has a lot of potential.
“Caity’s got a super high ceiling,” she said. “She works her tail off. She's got a really fast arm. I think we just need to get her more reps. She missed quite a bit in the summer because of softball and vacation and stuff, but I know she's hungry and ready to get back in the gym.
“She's super athletic, and she’s very, very coachable. If you try teaching her a different hitting angle or something, she's all about it. She's super coachable. We love kids like that.”
A surprise addition this offseason was Kortny Rollins, a sophomore who was named Second Team All-NBC at Otsego last year. She gives Lake six players on this year’s roster that made the all-conference team a season ago.
“She played at (Toledo Volleyball Club), and she was a six-rotation kid,” Vorst said. “She did a little bit of everything at Otsego. I think in junior high, she set, they used her as a DS, and they also used her as a hitter. Throughout the summer, we had her do just about all of those things, too. She does a really good job. She's a hard worker, and she's fitting in nicely.”
Lake’s lone senior this year is an important one — Savanna Saunders — and Vorst is really excited to see what she can do as the team’s setter.
“Over the summer, we sometimes ran a 6-2 and sometimes ran a 5-1, but I really trust her to run the offense,” she said. “She's got a really aggressive serve, so she can also give us some points in that area, too.”
Vorst said the program has a lot of young talent, as well, with a 13-member freshmen class coming in. Ultimately, Lake’s goal is to finish in the top three of the league and make a tournament run.
“We'd love to get back to regionals,” Vorst said. “I'm going to have this fun group of juniors for the next two years, and that's our goal is to go far in the tournament. That starts this year, and hopefully we get another league championship. But I know there's a lot of strong teams in our league that have also worked hard all summer. We look forward to competing, but I'd be happy with a top-three finish.”
