PREVIEW: Genoa volleyball

Third-year head coach Ryan Sinift is looking forward to his third season with the Genoa volleyball team, which will feature a talented, veteran roster.

“I’m very excited every year,” he said. “I love volleyball. I love coaching. I love going to practice every day. I love all this. I love coaching at Genoa. It's a great community. But it's exciting for this season with the seniors and just the focus that they’re bringing. Even the focus that the juniors are bringing, it just feels like they're really focused on having a great season and being competitive in every aspect.”

The Comets feature a roster of six seniors and six juniors following a season in which they finished 9-14 overall and 4-10 in league play. They graduated three players, including defensive specialist Mya Colvin, who Sinift said was the team’s vocal, emotional leader.

“Mya was a big leader for the team, especially emotionally,” he said. “She was very vocal and out front letting everybody know that we're here and we're competing. That's definitely going to be missed for sure.”

Other graduates include Alina Kegerize and libero Charli Magnone, who broke the program’s single-season digs record.

“We have some good candidates to fill (Charli’s) shoes, but at the same time they’re going to be big shoes to fill because she's just such a great athlete, as well as her speed and toughness. She wasn’t one to shy away from diving on the ground and sacrificing her body. Her speed and reaction time are hard to match, and she was able to read the hitters and get herself in the right spot.”

Senior Mya Rethman, who had 123 digs last year, is a prime candidate to handle that role this year. The Comets also return five other seniors, including outside hitter/setter Makenna Moritz (Second Team All-NBC), setter/outside hitter Lucy Schlageter (Honorable Mention All-NBC) and middle blocker Riley Sinift (Honorable Mention All-NBC).

Moritz, Schlageter and Sinift were 1-2-3 on the team in kills last year, respectively. Schlageter and Moritz were second and third in digs, and Schlageter led the team in assists and aces. Sinift was No. 1 in blocks.

Aside from those four, a pair of outside/right side hitters in Kylie Pennington and Khloe Cooper comprise the rest of the senior class.

“The girls have been there, done that,” Ryan Sinift said. “They’ve been through the battles. We lost a few more matches than we obviously wanted to last year, and a lot of them were real tight. With another year of experience now, they'll hopefully help us get over the top to get those few extra points that we need to get those close five set wins, or hopefully maybe turn some of those five set losses last year into three set wins this year.”

In the junior class, the Comets return middle blockers Vivian Clement and Cecilia Munoz, outside hitters Vivica Leu and Vanessa Leu, libero/defensive specialist Makayla Zaciewski and setter/right side Rilee Popovich.

That gives the team all but two starters back from last year.

“We have more girls playing travel than we've had in the past so some of them are working on their skills year-round,” Sinift said. “Even our multi-sport athletes are in sports year-round, so they're growing and becoming more athletic, stronger and quicker.”

That versatility, depth and experience will be pivotal for Genoa this year.

“It’s going to be very competitive,” Sinift said. “There’s not a whole lot of drop off from the 1A’s to one 1B's, so there's going to be a lot of competition and a lot of depth. All our girls are very versatile. Everybody can pass, everybody can set, everybody can hit. We'll be able to throw a lot of different looks at teams.”

Sinift said the program’s overall numbers are still growing. The Comets will once again have a freshman team this year, and they have toughened up the schedule, which will include Southview in the regular season, as well as scrimmages against Whitmer and Northview.

“I don't feel like we're really scared to play anybody,” he said. “We'll play anybody, and I feel like our girls can compete. We'll play anybody anywhere at anytime, and that's the kind of the crew I want to run with.”

That non-conference slate will also help the Comets prepare to compete in a loaded NBC.

“We know how competitive it is and all the great other teams that are out there,” Sinift said. “Every night is a battle. We always look forward to that. It's fun to play in a league that is so competitive rather than just showing up and thinking practice would be tougher than this. It's not like that in the NBC. Every night is a battle.”