MADISON TOWNSHIP — Madison’s 1997 state volleyball championship banner dominates the walls inside Wayne E. Miller Gymnasium.
Sure, many of the school’s best sports teams are represented here, but there’s only one state championship. It came in a sport the Rams have long owned in north central Ohio.
But those halcyon days are memories now, and the program is in an unusual rebuilding mode. That point was emphasized last week, when Ashland bounced the Rams 3-1 in an Ohio Cardinal Conference clash.
“Before the game, I told them the odds were stacked against us,” coach Mandy Glessner said. “They have been for a while.
“We have to start proving everything to people. People don’t expect a lot from us anymore, and we are trying to change things. We want to prove a point — we are here to play volleyball, and we are going to be good.”
The pep talk spurred a Game 1 win, but the Arrows recovered and rolled after that. Still, Glessner knows there is no quick fix here.
After a disappointing 2015 season and a three-loss start to the 2016 season, she is trying to develop the youngest talent in Madison Township so that group can be ready to play — and win — at the varsity level.
“It starts way before now,” Glessner said. “It needs to start before the fifth- and sixth-grade level. With it being only my second year, I haven’t had time to go that young yet.
“That’s where it starts. When they come to high school, it’s almost like a little too late. We’re working on perfecting the game, and some of these girls are just learning the game. You can tell when we battle some of these teams who have been playing together for a long time; we’re just raw talent.”
It’s not like it hasn’t been done before. Sue Subich was the architect of the first Madison teams that made a habit of reaching the Final Four. The Rams made six state tournament trips between 1993 and 2011. Subich coached the 1997 state championship team, too.
Last season — Glessner’s first year as head coach — the Rams suffered their first losing season in recent memory, finishing 5-17 overall and 4-10 in the OCC. In 2014 the Rams finished 19-6 and second in the conference to undefeated Orrville.
Glessner, and assistant coach, Ashley Galbraith, know the long shadows cast by Madison’s glorious volleyball past. They also know the task to revive such memories will take time.
Glessner said the coaches have been going to middle school practices and workouts every so often to help coaches and share expectations with the developing talents. Glessner said in a perfect world, they could reach even younger players, and help push them toward becoming quality high school players.
“We are very young (currently),” Glessner acknowledged of her current team.
The Rams’ 2016 roster carries more youth than experienced players: two seniors, Kinsey Kriner and Taylor Rose. The rest of the team is built by three freshman, five sophomores and one junior.
This poses an opportunity for improvement, but Glessner said the current team lacks chemistry other OCC teams have from playing together year after year.
There’s simply no rushing Mother Nature’s timetable of development, even for a program with a tradition as rich as Madison’s.
