Cathedral seniors ready for one last run

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- After coming off a season in which it finished 14-10, the Cathedral volleyball team begins its season today with a home game against Nicollet.

Coach Karan Whitmeyer sees a talented group of seniors who have been proven leaders over the years in different sports to once again rise to the occasion.

"We have some good quality senior leadership," Whitmeyer said. "Nikki Fischer and Julie Seifert are our co-captains this year, and they, like others, have experienced quite a bit of success in other sports. Just that valuable experience that most high school kids don't get to see, they'll use to help us out."

The Tomahawk Conference has the usual teams all figuring to be a factor to contend (Buffalo Lake-Hector, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, Minnesota Valley Lutheran and Wabasso), but Whitmeyer said that people shouldn't be quick to rule out the Greyhounds any time soon.

"There's some spirit on this team that's not going to allow us to stay down for a long time," she said. "There's a quiet sense of confidence that you don't teach."

One of the members of that team, senior outside hitter Melissa Kraus, is ready for the 2003 season and said that working together has been the most important ingredient thus far.

"Actually right now we're working more on team chemistry," Kraus said. "We're trying to work together because a lot of the people that came up this year didn't play varsity last year, so we're just trying to work as a team."

She said that she thinks that everyone is starting to trust each other well.

"It's coming along good. Everyone gets along real well and we don't have problems with team chemistry," Kraus said.

Whitmeyer said that besides Fischer and Seifert, the other seniors are going to have to step up for the team.

"The other seniors -- Katie Moeller, Kristen Dietz, Barbara Johnson and Melissa Kraus -- They're going to play important roles for us. The seniors are going to give us some quality time and we're looking for some good leadership from them," Whitmeyer said.

Dietz, who plays in the back row, is also eager for the season to start and is looking forward to her role as a leader.

"Being a senior, you don't have to be a leader, but part of it is trying to help people or keeping them encouraged and not let them get down," Dietz said.

With 2003 being the first year of rally scoring, the Greyhounds realize the importance of each point. Whitmeyer said that her team has a lot of speed and quickness, and that some of the more mistake-prone teams could find themselves struggling with the new system.

"I think the whole rally scoring system is going to change things in high school, because every mistake is going to have a more severe consequence with being a point this year," Whitmeyer said.

Besides the six seniors, the underclassmen have also showed great improvement and Whitmeyer has been happy with what she's seen.

"I think two of the surprises so far this year are Sharon Wurtzberger, who came up from B-squad at middle hitter and she's looked terrific, and Toni Hall is coming around for us also. Holly Helget did play last year about half the season, so we're expecting good things from her. And Katie [Beranek], Chelsea [Hillesheim], and Angela [Long] are juniors who this is really a learning experience for them. Angela has really showed a lot of poise."

Both Kraus and Dietz are expecting big things this season, but both were quick to say that having fun and playing hard are the most important things in their final year.

"I just want to go out there and play every game as hard as I can, even if you're down by a lot of points, that game could be your last game."

Dietz agreed.

"I wanna have fun and know that we played our best as a team that we could and to enjoy the season and not get too down on the negatives."