Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Eastwood had another successful season last year, although a talented group of seniors will have to be replaced, especially middle blocker Lilly Mullholand, who is now playing at Central Michigan.
“(The seniors) definitely left some big holes in our program, not only play-wise, but I feel like their class was one of my most ‘bought-in to the program, we live and breathe Eastwood volleyball’ classes,” head coach Sarah Frank said. “That left a big impact, and we're looking for that leadership to then fill their shoes.”
Others who graduated include Mylie Frantz, Addison Hartman, Adysen Might, and Kyrie Henline. Hartman and Henline were each named Second Team All-Northern Buckeye Conference.
In terms of overcoming those losses as she enters her fourth year in charge, Frank will look to the reigning NBC player of the year in Mack Miller, who produced 414 kills, a .316 hitting percentage, 302 digs, 40 aces and 17 blocks last year.
The versatile junior outside hitter posted double-digit kills in all but one match, recorded 18 double-doubles and tallied seven matches with at least 20 terminations. Defensively, she had two matches with at least 20 digs.
“Her game is so solid and there's still room to grow, but my goal for her is to better the people around her, focus on leadership, and allow us to be a more player-guided team — where players are constantly giving feedback, showing their own version of buy-in, and it's not always us coaches just directing, directing, directing,” Frank said. “A lot of the girls look to her as that voice of reason or that voice of what we can do next, how we can get better. I'm gonna expect a lot out of that for her.”
One of Miller’s best performances of the season came on Aug. 26 when she engineered Eastwood’s come-from-behind win in five sets over Whitmer with 22 kills and 20 digs — in a gym with no AC and a 90-plus degree temperature outside.
“I'm going to expect high-level offensive plays (from her),” Frank said. “Maybe sometimes that's not a bomb kill, sometimes it's just simply ball placement. Her defense has also improved a ton in the back row. I think people look at her as a hitter, but she's also improved a ton in the back of the court. I'm gonna expect a lot of ups, a lot of touches on defense from her, too.”
Miller isn’t alone on the outside as senior Ivy Schrader is back. She produced a career-best 130 kills and 275 digs last season.
“(Miller and Schrader) stepped up and are working on diversifying themselves offensively,” Frank said. “They've become leaders on and off the court.”
With the departure of Mullholand, Eastwood sees an increased role from senior Braily Moenter as she looks to fill the shoes of Mullholand, who had a career-best season that included hitting .362 with 259 kills, 77 blocks and 47 aces, along with 13 outings with double-digit terminations and 11 matches with at least a .400 hitting percentage.
“It was great for her to be able to watch Lilly and learn from Lilly,” Frank said. “She also played club ball and worked really, really hard in the offseason because she knew we needed some high production out of her this coming fall. She's also stepped up as a senior leader while working on running more plays and scoring more offensively. She's really improved in her kill percentage since last season.”
Providing some depth in the middle is Maya Schmeltz, a junior who missed half of last season due to a knee injury. Frank said she has done a phenomenal job this summer.
“She was an outside hitter, had knee surgery, went through full recovery, and we moved her to the middle,” Frank said. “She's been doing a great job of trying to fill in that high-scoring (role) because Lilly was such a high scorer for us.”
In addition to Moenter and Schrader, the team’s other two seniors are Whitley Lubash and Kyleigh McNulty.
“Whitley has not been able to fully play the past two years because of some knee injuries,” Frank said. “She's been working really hard to try to come back and set for us. She's put in a lot of reps in the offseason. Kyleigh has been swinging for us some on the right side and trying to help fill another one of those pin positions.”
One new varsity player Frank said could potentially have a nice season is Vanessa Evans, who is the team’s new opposite hitter after playing JV the past two seasons.
“A really cool thing about her is she actually never played volleyball until eighth grade,” Frank said. “She has come miles and miles. She's an optimistic, spark plug type of player for us.”
Sophomore Stella Chlebowski has been setting and working as a defensive specialist, while freshman Olivia Riter has made varsity as a libero, although she provides versatility.
“Stella has been a positive impact on our defense because she just goes for absolutely every single ball, and she's just a get-after-it type of kid,” Frank said. “Olivia is a lights-out player in any position. She has made a positive impact on our defense and when she's running our offense, as well.”
Frank said she feels her team’s strengths are their chemistry together, their group of pin hitters, and how much better defensively the team is than the past couple years.
Eastwood finished 19-6 overall last year, splitting the season series with league champion Lake and coming within one win of the Flyers in the NBC title race. While Miller was tabbed the league’s top player, Moenter and Schrader both earned honorable mention recognition.
The Eagles open this year Aug. 16 at home against Tinora.
“I think this is a really, really talented team,” Frank said. “I think they are coming off a year where we lost a lot of really talented seniors, but I also think they have a lot of talent themselves. We have a lot of different lineup options. When it all comes together, this team will be lights out and hard to stop. They have the chemistry piece, they have each other's backs, and once they settle into a lineup and their roles, they'll be very successful.”
