Members of the Lady Panther varsity volleyball squad are from left, front row, Mackenzie Lester, Anna Higbee, Kaelynn Sphapmixay; Olivia Vollrath; Reese Poling and Grace Gorton; back row, assistant coach Lexi Jacobs, Aubrey Burns, Caydee Breneman, Anna Mueller, Amber DaRe, Claudia Mueller, Zoe Schmidt and head coach Ryanne Ufferman. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Fairbanks’ JV volleyball squad is pictured from left, front row, Hailey Deer, Mary Kinsley, Kylie Wolfe, Anna Lynch and Reese Poling; back row, coach Lexi Jacobs, Anna Mueller, Elise Gerstenberg, Claudia Mueller and Aubrey Burns. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
FHS’ freshman volleyball squad is pictured from left, front row, Jenna Dee, Addison Grant, Anna Dulle and Allie Boyd; back row, coach Julie Court, Riley DaRe, Claire Baker and Kaitlyn Giovanni. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Second-year head coach Ryanne Ufferman has a good nucleus of veterans back for the Fairbanks High School volleyball squad.
Returning lettermen include seniors Kaelyn Sphapmixay (setter), Olivia Vollrath (defensive specialist) and Anna Higbee (outside hitter).
Junior Caydee Breneman returns as a middle blocker, as does sophomore libero Grace Gorton.
Several athletes have moved up from the junior varsity squad or will see more varsity court time this fall.
They include juniors Amber DaRe (right side hitter), Mackenzie Lester (setter and defensive specialist); sophomores Reese Poling (defensive specialist), Anna (middle hitter) and Claudia Mueller (outside and right side hitter) and middle hitter Aubrey Burns.
Sphapmixay should be among the top players on the team.
“She returns as a setter from a season in which she earned first-team honors in the Ohio Heritage Conference and the Central District,” said Ufferman. “She has worked hard to improve her overall game and court awareness.
“That and her leadership will be integral parts of our offense,” said the coach.
“Grace is a lively back-row player,” said Ufferman. “Her ball handling and court sense will help get our offensive game plan moving.
“Caydee will serve as a strong first-line of defense with her blocking.”
Ufferman said the Lady Panthers are working on being disciplined with their skill work.
“We are focusing on moving together and attacking every ball with the intent to score,” she said. “We also want to move well without the ball and get into our transition game quickly.
“Aggressive serving will also be a key component of our game.”
Ufferman said Northwestern (first in 2020) and Mechanicsburg (the runner-up) should continue to have strong teams within the Ohio Heritage Conference during the 2021 campaign.
Fairbanks placed third in the circuit a year ago with a 12-4 mark.
“Our goal is to get better with every practice and game,” said the FHS coach, who guided the team to an overall record of 14-10. “We want to focus on positive energy and enthusiasm.”
Ufferman said her team will take each game one at a time.
“We want to keep our ‘next ball’ mentality at the forefront,” she said.