PREVIEW: Oak Harbor volleyball

The Oak Harbor volleyball team is coming off the best season in program history, but the Rockets will have to replace several key players due to graduation as head coach Kaytlynn Joseph enters her third season.

“It's truly an amazing feeling to see what happens when you work hard,” Joseph said. “That was one thing with last year's team that you could not take away. They had the personality. They had the drive to want to win, and they had the attitude. They truly had everything that it took.”

Gone are First Team All-NBC outside hitter Tatum Baumgartner, Second Team All-NBC middle blocker Alayna Hall and Honorable Mention All-NBC libero Ava Lynch. Other key players such as Laney Schmidt, Olivia DeTray and Ashlyn Hall were also part of the class. Baumgartner and Lynch are both slated to play for Owens Community College this fall.

“There were some times where some slacking off would happen, and I feel like every team kind of goes through those moods,” Joseph said. “But they always had one goal, all of them — players, seniors, everybody. They wanted to win more than anything. They did not like to lose. They were very driven.”

The Rockets finished 22-5 overall, tied for second in a loaded NBC race, and advanced to the regional finals for the first time in program history. They came together late, winning 15 straight before falling in their finale.

“Their hard work definitely paid off,” Joseph said. “It was an amazing and incredible experience, as was the journey that it took to get there. At the end of the day, that's what I'm super proud of — where we started to what we were at the end of the season. There were a lot of things to be proud of, and making it to regional finals was definitely our biggest success.”

Despite all that, there’s still a lot of talent in Oak Harbor as a pair of senior all-league selections are back. Myley Sandwisch was tabbed First Team All-NBC last year, while Morgan Lalonde was an honorable mention selection.

Sandwisch was, arguably, the team’s best all-around player last year with 265 kills, a team-best .245 hitting percentage, 300 digs, a team-best 465 assists and 12 blocks. Lalonde was in the top five of the team in kills and digs.

“Change is hard and different,” Joseph said. “It's hard for an adult, let alone children. I’d like (those two) to take the leadership role of understanding and getting these girls to build that competitive level and build their skill, on top of displaying what leadership is and what our expectations are while also being good teammates.”

Additionally, junior Bella Rios will be the team’s setter in a 5-1 offense. She finished with 373 assists last year behind Sandwisch, who had 465 assists in a 6-2 offense.

“It’s a change of pace for her, but I trust her 110 percent,” Joseph said. “She has worked her tail off every year and has proven to me that she can handle herself. She is very confident, and she knows the skill of the game.”

Another senior, Maddie Schiets, should have a larger role as well after totaling 16 blocks in the middle rotation last year. Defensive specialist Payne Lohman is also back as the team’s fourth senior.

“They have big shoes to fill,” Joseph said. “Change is hard, but change can be really good because it allows for different personalities, different friendships and different things to build with girls being more open and more excited. This team’s going to be completely different than last year, but not in a bad way.”

A pair of sophomores should also see action as Tenlyee Gordon will likely fill Lynch’s spot at libero and middle blocker Autumn Helle should see time in the rotation with Schiets.

Others who will compete for playing time are Scarlett Augsburger and Audrey Branham.

“This is our rebuilding year, and I’d like to get girls comfortable in those positions and just have the expectation that they can be as good as those who have graduated,” Joseph said.

Another key storyline is that Joseph, who got married last year, is due with a child in September. Knowing that, she brought in her former Oak Harbor teammate Logan Harris as a new assistant coach. She recently coached at Margaretta.

“It’ll be an interesting year to see how everything goes,” Joseph said.