growth of the older players ….
growth of the older players and some youngsters who are aiming to step into varsity roles, particularly freshman Abby Chaplinski, who quickly established herself as the team’s setter. All the Pirates need, Komanec said, is the right attitude.
“We have a team quote we’re going with this year of ‘be bold, be confident, be relentless,’” Komanec said. “We talked about how this team needs to become more bold and more confident in everything they do. Not just playing, but also the way they warm up, the way they practice, everything. We hope that they carry a confidence that they haven’t quite found. We’ve had team meetings to talk about goals and make sure we are not setting ourselves too low. We are setting our goals high and expecting to go after those goals.”
The seniors said winning the conference championship and an in-season tournament or two certainly are on the list for team goals.
Grunseth, an honorable mention choice last fall in the conference, and junior Tatum Weir will return as the anchors in the middle of Gilman’s front row and are expecting to be threats both from a blocking standpoint and on offensive attacks. Second-team All-ECC choice Gracie Tallier returns as a top offensive threat. She ranked second on the team last year in kills and also recorded over 100 digs in her all-around role. Gunderson is also going to see time on the left side, while Vick will play on the right side, giving opponents a different look with her left-handed swing.
Junior Ellie Drier leads the defense in the back row as the team’s libero and Dietzler is getting a look at a back right spot.
The seniors view serving and hitting as the team’s strengths.
“We have girls that have been around long enough that have repped enough that they should start to be a factor for us,” Komanec said. “All of them have improved. We’re thinking that Kya might be more of a defensive player for us, which seems crazy because she is the second-tallest player on the team. She hasn’t quite found her swing yet, but she’s got a great serve so we’ve been working with her on some of the back right since we’re going to be running a 5-1. Abby is going to be running that offense for us.
“Hannah’s swing has gotten quicker. She’s definitely building confidence,” Komanec added. “Tatum and Emma are going to be putting up a good big block. They both can swing high. We don’t run a real quick ball with either of them. It’s not them, but if you set them they can get right above the block and hit a spot. Ellie will be our libero, she’ll be playing our back left. She’s really just starting to grow so comfortable reading hitters, covering those tips. Ava right now is working on the leftside for us, trying to get that spot. She can be a strong hitter.”
Komanec agreed that serving should be another of- fensive weapon for the Pirates.
“We have some young girls starting to jump serve and jump float for us,” she said. “We have some girls with some really nice float serves. When you come across a team where everybody float serves, it can be so frustrating, I’m hoping we’re that team this year that just has some really strong serving.”
The Pirates were clearly in upper half of Eastern Cloverbelt teams last fall with champion Columbus Catholic (7-0) and Colby and Neillsville, who both went 5-2 in league play.
Komanec still views Columbus Catholic as the team to beat, led by returning Eastern Cloverbelt Conference Player of the Year Dorci Walker. The Pirates and Lady Dons will open league play on Tuesday, Sept. 14 in Marshfield.
“We will have so much playing time in before that,” Komanec said. “We have the tournament, we have Owen, we have Thorp, we have Athens, we have Abbotsford. We’ll have some good competition before them, so I’m excited about that.”
Gilman is also scheduled to return to the Medford Invitational on Sept. 25 and host its own tournament on Oct. 9.
