Expect Lady Yellow Jackets volleyball team to be competitive this year
The Chester High School Lady Yellow Jackets volleyball team will be young in 2017, but they have been busy throughout the summer and first week of practice and promise to be competitive this year.
The Lady Yellow Jackets have a new coaching staff this year and are striving to develop a new team entity particular to this year's players and coaches.
Head coach is Adam Gibbs and he is assisted by Sarah Norman.
"Last year we lost four very talented seniors and an outstanding head coach," Gibbs said. "Therefore our focus so far this season has been to develop our own distinct identity."
Gibbs replaced former head coach Chad Koenegstein, who left CHS to return to Colorado where he is both playing and coaching volleyball.
Gibbs served under Koenegstein and Norman will now serve under Gibbs.
Norman has previous experience coaching volleyball at Century High School in Ullin and started the volleyball program there in 2010.
"I tasked this year's seniors with coming up with a team motto, an ace cheer, a block cheer, a kill cheer, and a team breakdown cheer," Gibbs said. "I want these girls to buy into this team and have ownership of it."
They came up with the team motto, "Never me…always we."
The Lady Yellow Jackets have a roster of 21 athletes, including three seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and 10 freshmen.
This group of athletic young ladies will man three teams - varsity, junior varsity and freshman.
"We are young this year, but we are going to work hard," Gibbs said.
The varsity features seniors Tayler Howie, Maddie Hoffman and Katie Hoffman, along with juniors Carlee Weir, and Lauren Welge.
Sophomores Grace Stec, Lauren Vasquez and Ashtyn Jany will also play on the varsity squad and freshmen Lauren Soellner, Reese Chandler, Kendall Williams, and Josie Kattenbraker will round out the varsity team.
The junior varsity features one junior, Caitlyn Roberts, sophomores Grace Stec, Lauren Vasquez, Ashtyn Jany, Kayla Bert, and Audra Hopper and freshmen Katie Shinabarger, Lauren Soellner, Reese Chandler, Kendall Williams, Josie Kattenbraker and Peyton Clendenin.
The freshman team boasts all 10 freshmen - Peyton Clendenin, Josie Kattenbraker, Marci Naeger, April Amburn, Alyvia Rayburn, Kendall Williams, Reese Chandler, Alana Meyer, Lauren Soellner and Katie Shinabarger.
The team's schedule features three tournaments, eight road matches, and eight home matches, with regionals beginning October 23.
Competition opens Saturday August 26 at Sesser-Valier with a Black Diamond Conference matchup. The Lady Yellow Jackets will also travel to the Marissa-New Athens Labor Day Tournament the week of August 28-31.
Other away games include Christopher (September 7); Goreville (September 14); The Trico Invitational Tournament (September 19); Valmeyer (September 25); Trico (September 28); Vienna (October 3); Zeigler-Royalton (October 10); the Freeburg Invitational Tournament (October 14) and Gibault (October 19).
The season home opener is September 12 as Chester hosts Trico in a Black Diamond Conference battle. Other home matches are Vienna (September 13); Zeigler-Royalton (September 18); Sesser-Valier (September 26); Steeleville (September 27); Goreville (October 25); Sparta (October 16) and Christopher (October 17).