Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Second-year head coach Ryan Sinift helped lead Genoa to the program’s first double-digit win total in 14 seasons in his first campaign.
The Comets finished 11-13, defeated Oak Harbor for the sectional title and lost a five-set heartbreaker to Eastwood in a district semifinal.
Ultimately, the team broke seven school records before graduating six seniors, highlighted by libero Marley Mollenhauer, middle blocker Liv Kimpon and setter Emersen Bickel. They helped lead the Comets to three more wins than they had in their first three seasons combined.
This year, it’s about taking the next step behind a sense of belonging.
“We want to be competitive in every match,” Sinift said. “We’d like to see the team compete with the best in the league, and I feel like if we play to our ability, we could definitely do that. The main thing is just the confidence and belief that we belong. There was a pretty good size slump there that Genoa volleyball went through that we're trying to overcome.”
This year’s team features three seniors — Mya Colvin, Charli Magnone and Alina Kegerize.
Magnone, who played significant time last year, will look to replace Mollenhauer’s production at libero. Colvin will also see time as a defensive specialist. After Kimpon led the Comets in kills from the middle last year, Riley Sinift looks for an increased role in that position.
Makenna Moritz, who matched Sinift for the second-most kills on last year’s team, will also play a big role on the outside and as a setter — same goes with junior Lucy Schlageter.
“The girls that we do have returning saw significant time last year, and that's valuable,” Sinift said. “They have a great example to learn from with the six seniors that we did graduate. They just want to continue the growth that was started by our great group of seniors from last year. Hopefully that will help us bring home additional wins.”
In addition to that focus, Sinift likes the versatility of his roster.
“Most of the girls can play multiple positions,” he said. “They’re dynamic. It's not like we have a lot of girls that are limited in their skills where they're only a back row player or they're only a front row player. Obviously there’s a couple that are primarily specialists in that area, but I feel that they’re just overall good, multi-sport athletes.
“I feel like that's translating well to the volleyball court where they can do multiple things. They can set, they can pass, they can hit, they can get on the ground for a ball and serve well. They're used to winning in other sports so that obviously helps the mentality, as well.”
The team’s growth last year also appears to have helped the program grow in roster size.
“I think it's produced more excitement, and winning breeds that,” Sinift said. “People might find something else to do if they're not feeling that they're part of something special, but I feel like these girls feel like they could be part of something special.”
Sinift said that it even appears the Comets will have a freshmen team for the first time in quite a while.
“And I believe it will be a freshmen team that’s filled with quality players,” he said. “Our program is attracting some of the top athletes that we have, and we're hopefully going to be competitive for quite some time and continue to build from there.
“It's a great thing to do at Genoa. I feel like Genoa's not just a great school. Obviously, anybody would be lucky to go there, but as far as playing sports there, I feel it's a great sports community, if that makes sense. They love their sports, they follow, they support, and they have a tradition.”
Genoa opens the season Aug. 23 at home against Port Clinton.
“One thing that stands out to me every day at practice is that we have a great group of girls,” Sinift said. “Attitudes are super positive and there's so much camaraderie. They all get along great. They come from great families. I've been around a lot of different teams (in my coaching background), and this is just such a great group of girls … there’s just a lot of positivity. The younger girls all see that, and it seems like it's trickled down to them.”
