The Pioneer volleyball team is coming off a season where the Panthers reached the semistate in Class 2A, falling just one win short of a third State Finals appearance in six years.
But the Panthers return just one fulltime varsity player from a year ago, Keirsten Nies, who returns for her senior season.
“We’re really young,” Pioneer coach Rod Nies said. “We only have 17 girls total out for the team, and 10 of those girls are freshmen. So we’ve got one senior and that’d be my daughter, Keirsten. We’re going to rely really heavy on her.”
Keirsten Nies, a 5-foot-7 senior setter, was an all-around standout on last year’s semistate team that finished with a 24-14 record. She was the team’s top server.
“She’s going to have to do a little bit of everything,” coach Nies said. “Last year she was probably a third or fourth option in our offense, and now she’s going to be the No. 1 option if she’s not setting the ball. So her role is going to change drastically. The great thing about it is I’m going to probably have one of my best floor generals or leaders I’ve ever had because she knows exactly what I want. She’s not going to put up any fight or going to try to change things out there. She’s going to control the girls. She’ll be able to calm them down in the times where we’re going to need when the other team’s making some runs at us.”
5-7 junior Aspen Moolenaar, a standout track athlete, was the top JV volleyball player last year and will move to the varsity and play a role as an outside and middle hitter.
5-3 sophom*ore Lois Layer, who starred in softball as a freshman last spring, will play setter opposite Keirsten Nies and will also play all-around as a hitter and passer. 5-7 freshman Averi Layer is a left side hitter opposite of Moolenaar.
5-5 junior Ava Beasy will start the season as the libero.
The middle hitters are 5-10 sophom*ore Kendalyn Farrer and 5-9 freshman Laylah Demond. Other players in the mix for varsity time are freshmen Abigail Chambers, Elizabeth Kennell and Madyson Shaffer.
“It’s going to be one of those years where I think we can be really good at times and then other times we’ll look like a bunch of freshmen out there,” Nies said. “It’s going to be a growing process. I’m not so much concerned as far as wins and losses. It’s ‘are we getting better? Can we stay healthy, continue to improve.’ I always look forward to the end of the season and that postseason run. Our schedule is brutal. You know we’re going to take losses. Even my great teams take losses. Last year we made it to the semistate and took 14 losses.”
One area where the Panthers don’t take losses is in conference play. They enter this year on a 37-match HNAC winning streak. The conference has a new look this year with LaVille and Knox out and Argos, North Miami and Oregon-Davis in. Nies said Culver, North Miami and Triton look to be the top threats to the Panthers’ supremacy.
The Panthers are moving back to Class 1A this year. Their sectional field includes Caston, DeMotte Christian, North Newton, North White, South Newton, Tri-County and West Central.
Pioneer opens its season Saturday at the Cass County Tournament at Logansport. The event was moved from Lewis Cass to Logansport due to renovations at Cass’ main gym not being completed yet. Pioneer plays Caston at 5 p.m., followed by Logan vs. Cass at 6:15. The consolation and championship matches are to follow.
Caston is the defending champion after knocking off eight-time defending champion Pioneer last year. But Logansport could be the Panthers’ top contender this year.
“I definitely think Logansport will be the team to beat,” Nies said. “I hope we have that opportunity. I’d like to have that opportunity to hopefully play for the championship and see what happens.”
LOGANSPORT
Pioneer grad and Nies’ stepdaughter Cortney Long had a successful first season with the Berries, going 15-15 one year after they went 3-30.
The Berries have a lot back to build off that momentum, returning a core that includes seniors Ashlyn Brumett, Maddy Anderson, Emilia Rozzi and Gracee Baer and juniors Adrienne Scott, Teagan Wolf, Aracyn Good and Mayla Williams.
A varsity newcomer this year includes 6-foot-1 freshman Khloe Wells.
The Berries also don’t have to worry about facing Harrison and McCutcheon in conference and sectional play this year. The Berries are making a move to the Hoosier Conference, where Benton Central is the defending champion. The Bison went 32-2 and were Class 3A regional finalists a year ago.
“We’re in a new conference with new teams that are still very solid, but so are we,” Long said. “I’m confident we can compete.”
Logansport will compete in a Class 3A sectional field that includes Maconaquah, Northwestern, Peru, Twin Lakes, West Lafayette and Western.
The Berries are hoping to get a shot at Pioneer for the county title Saturday night. The Panthers have largely dominated the series over the last decade.
“I think we have a huge chance of making it to the championship game and actually competing with Pioneer this year,” Long said. “We’re prepping for them, that’s for sure.
“Our program is developing and I see a bright future with younger talent coming in.”
CASTON
The Comets are dealing with heavy losses to graduation, losing a group of seniors that made school history by having the most wins in program history and were the Cass County champs last year. Two of those players are playing sports in college, Isabel Scales, who’s playing basketball at Bethel, and Addison Zimpleman, who’s playing softball at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Makena Middleton and Karlee Sommers are returners with the most experience, while Madi Douglass, Natalie Warner, Shaylei Yadon, Ashlyn Bailey and Kylee Logan all saw some varsity time last year.
Grace Colvin and Baylee Harrison are varsity newcomers.
“Graduating such a large senior class who played the majority of minutes over the last two seasons, we are learning how to play together,” Caston coach Gina Hierlmeier said. “We continue to grow and improve as a team each day in practice.”
Defending Class 1A state champion Southwood has been the Comets’ stopper in sectional play in recent years. Southwood has moved to Class 2A due to the success factor. Caston is in a new sectional field and the HNAC also has a new look with some different teams.
“Conference will be an interesting mix with a lot of great teams who graduated some great players last year,” Hierlmeier said. “We are heading to a new sectional, but we are not unfamiliar with teams. Tri-County had an amazing season last year and are returning key pieces. I would say they are the team to beat in the sectional this year.”
The Comets open against Pioneer at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Berry Bowl
“The Cass County Tournament is a fun way to start the season,” Hierlmeier said. “Our mentality is to go and defend last season’s title.”
CASS
The Lady Kings are coming off an 11-16 season, which was a six-win improvement from the year before. They went 4-5 in their inaugural year in the TRC, in which Southwood won en route to a state title. Southwood is in Cass’ sectional field this year along with Eastern, Manchester, Oak Hill, Rochester and Wabash.
The Kings have to replace five seniors from last year’s team.
“While it will be a rebuilding year for us after graduating last year’s seniors, I was pleasantly surprised at our scrimmage Wednesday night against Delphi,” Cass coach Katie Cowell said. “We were missing two middles for sickness and lack of eligibility, so I was unsure how a brand new lineup with girls playing in new positions would work out. They stepped up to the plate ready to battle. We won all three games against Delphi.
“I’ve got some key players returning that I’m excited about. I’m most excited to watch Brooklynn Kraner (sophom*ore middle) this season. She hit the weight room this summer and has been working hard and it has paid off. She’s going to be huge for us this season. We have a promising freshman joining varsity this fall. Presley Johnson is tall and athletic and has the ability to hit in any position and even set. She’s a hard worker and the type of player you want to coach. I’m excited to watch her make that transition from junior high ball to varsity. It’ll be an adjustment but I think she’ll do just fine.
“I’m also excited to have juniors Ava Hubner and Emma Hildebrand return as well. Both are solid players who will be consistent leaders for us this fall. Ava has worked hard to develop her skills to be a six rotations outside hitter and Emma has worked to improve her serve receive and be a steady leader as libero for us. We have Maryn Zeck returning to dish up some sets for our hitters. I’m excited to watch her leadership skills shine as she is our only senior this fall. Sophom*ore Lauren Tocco had a fantastic showing at our Delphi scrimmage when she got to play libero. She has worked hard to earn that varsity spot and I’m excited to watch her continue to improve her back court play this season. Brailyn Adams, Kami Silcox, Ally Berry and Lexi Gotshall round out the rest of our varsity team. I’m excited to watch them all make that transition from JV to varsity this season.
“I think we have a ton of potential and I’m excited to see how we progress as the season plays out. Mostly I’m just excited to spend each day in the gym with these girls. This is a really fun group of girls to coach. There is never a dull moment around them.”
