TRENTON VOLLEYBALL

Members of the 2021 Trenton High School volleyball team include, from left, front row, Shay Turner, Jacole Simpson, Mackenzie Lewis, Kinze Hanson, Kenzy Dolan, Kate Clark, Lilli Woods; middle row, Zoie McGowan, Alhanna Milazzo, Haley Shultz, Makenzee Epperson, Paige Farris, Dariana Sanchez, Makayla Hamilton, Jordan Price; back row, assistant coach Rick Leafgreen, Juliet Schmadeke, Ava Simpson, Abby Simpson, Katie Markell, Lilly Berti, Alison Yoder, Aubree Dalrymple, Saige Gott and head coach Brad Ewald.

EWALD ERA BEGINS FOR

TRENTON VOLLEYBALL T

he Trenton High School volleyball program is starting over

— again.

This offseason Brad Ewald was tabbed as the ninth head coach for a program entering its 26th season. The Bulldogs are hoping Ewald can take the volleyball program, which has made strides in recent years, to the next level.

Last season Trenton finished just 8-17. The win total was a regression for a program that had worked its way to double-digit victories in recent seasons, but Trenton won the Carrollton Quad, hoisting its first tournament championship trophy ever. At the district tournament, Trenton advanced past the tournament semifinals for the first time ever, playing for a district championship. Though Trenton fell short of hanging a banner on the wall in its gym, just playing for the title represented a monumental leap for the program.

Make no mistake, though, a banner on the wall is what Ewald and the Bulldogs are after.

“I know the district loss last year has really fueled these girls,” Ewald said. “They are really excited to just try to put a district banner up on the wall for the first time.”

Getting back to the district final will require some players to step up into new roles, however. Trenton lost three all-district players to graduation last year. Evy McCullough led Trenton in nearly every major statistical category, most notably kills. McCullough generated a healthy portion of Trenton’s points at the net, but was among those to have her name called on the graduation stage last spring. What Trenton does have going for it, however, is the return of Ava Simpson.

Simpson generated a lot of assists on McCullough’s kills and will look to set up more players this season. Her role will be slightly different in Ewald’s offense, however, as Trenton looks to use a two-setter system on offense. Her sister, Abby Simpson,

2021 SCHEDULE

2020 DATE OPPONENT RESULT

8/30 @ Cameron 0-2 9/2 @ Chillicothe 0-3 9/7 @ Plattsburg 1-3 9/9 CARROLLTON n/a 9/13 HAMILTON 3-0 9/14 SOUTH HARRISON 3-0 9/16 KIRKSVILLE 0-3 9/18 @ Lathrop Invite n/a 9/21 @ Hamilton n/a 9/27 BROOKFIELD 2-1 9/28 @ East Buchanan 0-2 9/30 @ South Harrison 3-0 10/2 @ Carrollton Tourn. 1st 10/4 CHILLICOTHE 1-3 10/5 LATHROP 0-3 10/11 @ Lexington 0-3 10/12 LEBLOND 0-3 10/18 @ St. Joe Christian 0-2 10/19 SAVANNAH 0-2

HEAD COACH

Brad Ewald - fourth year first year at Trenton

Career Record: - 7-66-1 0-0-0 at Trenton Last Year’s Awards: Evy McCullough, first team all-district; Ava Simpson, first team all-district; Kenzie Yuille, first team all-district; Lilly Berti, second team alldistrict; Olivia Roberts, second team all-district

will also be called upon to help put Trenton’s hitters in good positions at the net.

“We are kind of doing a few different things with our offense than what (Simpson) has done in the past,” Ewald said. “But, just to have her and her ability with her hands and stuff is huge. She is definitely a little more seasoned and the things that we are trying to do differently with her in our offense she is developing really well with. Abby Simpson is our other setter and she is settling in also, so both of our setters are making great decisions with the ball right now in practice.”

That duo, along with Katie Markell, who has been working as the team’s libero, will look to handle most of the passing in Trenton’s offense. The Bulldogs are hoping keeping passing duties in the hands of their strongest backline players will limit unforced errors and points given away.

At the net, Trenton will look to Lilly Berti to make up for some of the production lost when McCullough graduated. Ewald won’t pressure any one player with that role, however, hoping instead to have the responsibility spread around to more players.

“I would say we are looking at more of a committee than just one individual at the net,” Ewald said. “Definitely looking at that team last year, they kind of centered all of the attacks around Evy. It’s going to have to be more balanced this year. We don’t have that super strong one player. But, by spreading the ball out, we are hoping to keep the defense constantly shifting.”

Alison Yoder saw varsity time last year as well and should provide Trenton with another hitting option in addition to Berti. Zoie McGowan and Juliet Schmadeke have been rotating in at the outside hitter positions as well and Makenzee Epperson and Saige Gott have been working in the middle. Epperson and Gott will look to provide the Bulldogs with some offense between its outside hitters and slow the ball down for the back line on opposing players' kill attempts.

Trenton’s varsity will at least start the season with nine players, meaning the Bulldogs won’t have a ton of subbing options. That will require several players to stay in the game on both the front and back lines.

There won’t be any easing into the season for Trenton either. With a new coach and many players in new roles, Trenton is tasked with opening the season with three straight road contests and all three against quality opponents in Cameron, Chillicothe and Plattsburg. That isn’t necessarily as bad as it seems, though, according to Ewald.

“I’m actually kind of excited for the road games,” Ewald said. “Right now, I think the girls are a little tense about that opening night here at home, so being on the road is going to take away some of that pressure and just allow them to play the best ball that they can play.

“We have already talked about it, those are three matches that we want to be competitive in. You know, Cameron and Chillicothe are both Class 3 schools and those are teams we want to go in and at least steal a set from. If we can be competitive in the other sets and then maybe steal another one at the end, that would be great. But that is something that we are looking to do early being away, I think that helps relieve some of the pressure and just helps the girls get used to the new pace of game that we are trying to play.``

Trenton won’t know its district until after the season has already begun. If it is the collection of teams that Trenton battled at that level last season, the Bulldogs are certainly chasing a banner this season. But if Trenton finds itself alongside a Lawson, which advanced to the Final Four last season, that goal becomes much more difficult. Regardless of the opponent, though, with volleyball not a conference sport in the Grand River Conference, a district title is what Ewald and the Bulldogs are gunning for.

“We are setting our goals pretty high this year,” Ewald said. “No matter who we have to go through at districts, that is kind of our team goal. It may be a lofty goal if we do run into Lawson, or a Mid-Buchanan if they for some reason get shifted over. Something like that would put a bump in the road, but that is why we are really focusing on those teams like Cameron and Chillicothe, those Class 3 schools. Those are going to be the kind of tests that show us how we are going to perform in districts. If we luck out and the district is a little softer like it was last year, then yeah, we are hoping to come out with a win in districts. But, even if we see a harder team in districts we are doing everything we can to prepare for what that harder team is going to look like.”

Trenton closes every practice by huddling up and saying the same saying: day by day, getting better and better, the team that can’t be beat is the team that won’t be beat.

For now, Trenton is working on getting better and better, day by day.

“We’ve made a ton of improvement,” Ewald said. “Girls that were a little timid when we first started (this summer) have started to come alive a lot. We have become a far more aggressive hitting team than what we were.”

Trenton opens the season at Cameron on Monday, Aug. 30. First serves are scheduled for 5 p.m.