:quality(70):focal(995x1154:1005x1164)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/BOLVLZ3GKBC6VNM3GM263HXN2M.jpg)
As summer workouts and games wind down, the Sycamore girls volleyball team isn’t just finding its rhythm on the court – the players are building a strong chemistry off it.
According to the team and coach Jennifer Charles, those two strengths are directly related and bode well for a bounce-back 2025 season.
“We’re really strong on the attack, and it’s definitely the setters because I feel like they’re so versatile,” junior outside hitter Khiara Thomas said. “We’ve been with them for so long, they know what every hitter wants. Even if it’s not perfect, the next ball they make it better. They make it better every single time.”
The Spartans, with just three seniors last season, went 10-22. In every full season since 2019, they’ve followed a 20-loss season with a 20-win season.
Charles said this year’s team still is relatively young, but most of the players have a lot of experience, a key difference from last year.
“The biggest thing is we were super young last year, only having three seniors,” Charles said. “So this year we’re looking for people to take that leadership role. We’re still going to be young. I’m still going to have more juniors than seniors.”
Charles said her roster is shaping up to potentially have nine juniors and five seniors this year.
Thomas and junior middle and right-side hitter Maddie Patton said the setters have been very strong so far this offseason. The group includes seniors Lana Walker and Eleanor Klacik and junior Lizzy Goff.
“I think we have a lot of natural talent, especially with our setters,” Patton said. “They spread out the ball. I think our offense is going to be hard to defend against.”
Charles said she’s been pleased with how close this year’s team is. It’s been apparent throughout the summer with the group’s attendance at various team activities.
That leads to small positives on the court, such as the setter-hitter relationship.
“We went to open gyms and stuff like that,” Thomas said. “I think we’re really good with our friendship, and that helps on the court and off the court.”
Thomas and Patton were Daily Chronicle All-Area second-team selections last year. Patton had 67 kills, and Thomas had 150 playing on the same team as Chronicle Player of the Year and Interstate 8 Conference MVP Ava Carpenter, who had 215 kills. Carpenter is playing at Southern Indiana.
Carpenter was one of the few seniors on last year’s team. Two years ago, the team featured almost a dozen seniors on the roster. A mass exodus like that, Charles said, leaves a lot of young players trying to figure things out.
“They were what I called my COVID babies,” Charles said of the 2023 class. “A lot of them were with me from the beginning, because a lot of my seniors back then went to stay with club. They all decided as a freshman group to stay with me during club.”
This year’s group, Charles said, is not just close but gritty and determined.
“They’re wanting to win every point, win every ball,” Charles said. “They’re determined, they work together. They’ve been bonding off the court, not only in the gym but out of the gym. For the most part it’s becoming a nice big family.”