“The season we had last year was successful and with seven returning letterman, I have high hopes for this season,” said head volleyball coach, Jody Ritchey.
Ritchey is entering her fourth year as the head coach of volleyball for Crestview High School. “Last year we went 14-8 and broke 15 school records. I was very proud of the hard work that the girls put in,” said Ritchey.
Ritchey lost five seniors last year which, in turn, has the team looking much younger. “We have a young group this year, but the girls are really working well together and learning how to communicate with each other. The experience will develop,” said Ritchey. “Our starters include two freshman, two sophomores, one junior, and one senior,” said Ritchey.
Sophomore Macie Restille is a returning letterman that had an explosive freshman season. “Macie has a dominating jump serve and she has so much potential in the upcoming years. She broke the school record last year for most points in a season and had 198 kills,” said Ritchey. Along with Restille, Ritchey has confidence in freshman Kayleigh Kaufman. “Kayleigh has tremendous offensive attack. I am excited to see what she can do this season,” said Ritchey.
“Seniors Casey Walthour and Brook Gottfried are great assets to the team, too. Brook is six feet tall, which makes her our tallest player this year. We are not overly tall this season, but we never have been,” said Ritchey.
Ritchey knows that the team will face challenges during this season. “We lost some key players last year. This team has to work on building that team chemistry and experience,” said Ritchey. However, the progress that has been made with the young team has been noticed. “These girls are dedicated and hard working. This is a team that wants to build together and have success,” said Ritchey.
The season schedule offers no shortage of tests. “We will have a few challenging teams this season because the Firelands Conference is very tough. Norwalk St. Paul, South Central, and Monroeville are always incredible and play extremely well,” said Ritchey.
“I want to be able to coach the team to be smart players and I want them to communicate well each other because that is a key factor that will help us continue success,” said Ritchey.
