Girls volleyball: Record Newspapers team-by-team preview capsules for the 2025 season

The 2025 girls volleyball season starts this week. Here are previews of teams from around the Record Newspapers coverage area.

Newark

Coach: PJ McKinney

Last season’s record: 25-11, 10-0 Little Ten Conference

Top returning players: Taylor Jeffers, jr., S; Heather Buhle, sr., OH; Rylie Carlson, so., OH; Morgen Hergenhahn, sr., DS; Tessa Kot, jr., MH

Top new players: Zoe Carlson, fr., MH; Ella Bromeland, jr., S/RS

Worth noting: Newark last season won its 15th consecutive Little Ten Conference regular-season title and its seventh straight regional championship. McKinney is 90-22 in three years as head coach. Leading the returning starters is Jeffers, who had 668 assists and 62 aces running the offense last year. Newark graduated its top two hitters in Adrianna Larsen and Addi Long, but brings back a mix of solid hitters. Carlson had 125 kills and 130 digs last year as a freshman, and Buhle had 75 kills. Hergenhahn will be the leader of the back row.

“We are excited to get the season going after working hard in the offseason,” McKinney said. “The girls are expecting to keep the Norsemen program thriving with a quality 2025 season. It will be a very versatile group that can have hitters in multiple positions. The setting and defense are going to be fun to watch as well. We expect to be at the top of the Little Ten Conference and competing in high level tournaments, hopefully making a successful run in the 1A postseason tournament.”

Oswego

Coach: Gary Mosley

Last season’s record: 32-5 overall, 11-0 Southwest Prairie Conference

Top returning players: Hannah Herrick, jr., OH; Maya Norlin, sr., MH/OPP

Top new players: Laila Lawson, sr., MH; Avery Borowski, sr., L/DS; Kimberly Reichard, sr., S; Amelia Mosley, jr., L/DS; Elaina Massie, jr., S; Dani Brooks, jr., MH; Sara Gilio, so., OH

Worth noting: The Oswego program is coming off its best two-year run. Oswego last season won 32 matches, breaking the win record set by the 2023 team, won the first conference championship in program history, won a second consecutive regional title and reached the first sectional final in program history. Now, though, the Panthers are starting over. Graduated is two-time Record Newspapers Player of the Year Sidney Hamaker, fellow All-Area outside hitter Mia Jurkovic, All-Area setter Ava Flanigan and All-Area right-side hitter Kelsey Foster, as well as libero Alexis Terrazas.

Herrick, committed to Dayton, and Norlin lead the returning players.

“The standard is high for Oswego Panthers volleyball, and we look to maintain that standard,” Mosley said. “We will have a reloaded lineup with a lot to prove.”

Oswego East

Coach: Dina Beamon

Last season’s record: 12-19 overall, 5-6 Southwest Prairie Conference

Top returning players: Ali Coy, sr., RS; Laila Mossey, sr., L; Gia Slyvestre, sr., M; Mia Stanley; Goda Vievesis, sr., M; Kayli Pembroke, sr., OH; Riley Trefny, sr., S

Top new players: Tori Vlcek, so., OH/RS; Paige Hyland, jr., RS

Worth noting: Coy, an Austin Peay commit, leads four returning starters and seven total seniors for a larger Wolves’ team with more depth. Coy had 152 kills, 92 digs and 43 blocks last season. Other returning starters include Mossey, who had 284 digs, 54 assists and 26 aces last year, Stanley, who had 160 kills and 24 aces, and Slyvestre, who had 55 kills and 36 blocks. Trefny is a three-year varsity player who has earned her spot as setter, Vievesis is back after being injured last year, and Pembroke’s a returning player brought up to varsity at the end of last season.

“We are not a tall team but a very disciplined and aggressive and spunky team,” Beamon said. “The team is hungry and ready to start competing. I think that we may be considered the underdogs in the conference, but think everyone will be very surprised with the versatility and talent we have this year. Senior RS Ali Coy will be a huge threat in the front row. We are extremely strong in the middle with Gia and Goda being very aggressive middles.”

Parkview Christian

Coach: Tonya Grayson

Last season’s record: 13-17

Top returning players: Lillie Bernhard, sr., S; Abigail Carlyle, jr., OH; Kendra Mersman, jr., L/DS

Top new players: Tessa New, so., RS; Rhen Staudacher, fr., OH/MB

Worth noting: Grayson, who won 555 matches and state titles in 2018 and 2019 over 21 seasons as head coach at Newark, has taken over the Parkview program.

It’s a relatively young group, with 10 sophomores and five freshmen among the 21 girls in the program.

“Talented and athletic group of young ladies who have been very open and receptive to a new system and way of doing things. Players are adapting to new positions and responsibilities,” Grayson said. “This group has the ability to be competitive if we can develop consistency in our serve-pass game. It will take a little bit to settle into our system of play, but I think this group will be fun to watch. Three early-season tournaments will give us a ton of matches to gain experience and get used to how we will play the game.”

Plano

Coach: Brittany Hill

Last season’s record: 15-22 overall, 5-9 Kishwaukee River Conference

Top returning players: Natalia Olson, sr., OH; Hennessy Pena, sr., MH; Ava Cadena, jr., L/S; Camila Nunez, jr., S/OPP

Other returning players: Keiry Alcala, so., DS/Pin; Jayda Burau, so., MH/OH; Payton Goldsmith, sr., S; Jessel Leon, so., DS; Abigale Lind, sr., S

Top new players: Kazandra Reyes, jr., DS; Addison Johnson, so., OPP/OH; Elizabeth Hansel, fr., OH.

Worth noting: The Reapers last season enjoyed a five-win improvement from their 2023 finish, took third at the Princeton Invite and advanced to a regional final. Since-graduated Rita Lauro broke the school single-season record for aces and April Salgado the single-season school record for digs. Cadena, who had 90 digs and 113 assists last season, and Nunez, who had 50 kills and 83 digs, are going into their third varsity season. Olson had 112 kills and 70 digs, Pena 32 kills and 36 digs and Leon tied a school record aces in a match with nine.

The Reapers have their sights set on potentially topping 20 wins and improving their finish in the KRC.

“We see a lot of improvement in our returning seniors this year; they are looking like they will lead a pretty competitive team,” Hill said. “Many talented sophomores moved up from our JV level and are looking like they will be taking over some key roles that were left open from our large senior group of seven last season. This team has a nice balance of experienced players and new talent.”

Sandwich

Coach: Shannon Stahl

Last season’s record: 16-17 overall, 6-8 Kishwaukee River Conference

Top returning players: Alayla Harris, jr., MB; Kayden Corneils, sr., MB; Shayla Green, sr., DS; Bella Isadore, jr., DS

Top new players: Bailey Frieders, sr., OH; Rylee Huml, jr., DS; Ali Martin, jr., MB/RS

Worth noting: First-year head coach Stahl, who teaches fourth grade in Sandwich, leads an entirely new coaching staff. She played two years of high school volleyball at Plano and is entering her seventh year in the Sandwich school district. Sandwich last season had a nine-win improvement from the previous season and moved up from seventh to fifth in the KRC with the program’s most wins since 2019. Harris and Corneils are starters returning. Harris, also all-conference and voted the team’s most improved player, had 61 blocks, tops in the conference, and 86 kills. Jessica Ramey, all-conference and team co-MVP with 453 assists, 256 digs and 46 aces, opted to not play this season.

“With a lot of returning varsity players, and some new talent joining the team, it should be a great year,” Stahl said. “The girls have worked really hard over the summer fine-tuning their skills and bonding as a team. We are starting the season with a positive outlook and hoping to have a lot of fun this year.”

Yorkville

Coach: Ryan Donato

Last season’s record: 17-20 overall, 6-5 Southwest Prairie Conference

Top returning players: Sophia Blank, jr., MB; Camryn Carter, jr., OH; Tessa Liaromatis, sr., DS

Top new players: Teyha Knapp, jr., OS, RS

Worth noting: The Foxes graduated two starters and eight total seniors from the team last season that finished fifth in the Southwest Prairie Conference. Blank, a 6-foot-2 middle committed to Loyola, led the Foxes in blocks with 44 and looks to be more productive on the offensive side this season. Carter, a 5-foot-10 all-conference pick last season, was second on Yorkville in kills with 257. Liaromatis spent time at defensive specialist and outside and ended up as Yorkville’s libero last year. Knapp, a transfer from Parkview Christian, could play outside or right side.

“Yorkville looks to have one of their better seasons since their regional title in 2021 and hopes to finish in the top five in the SPC again,” Donato said.

Yorkville Christian

Coach: Jake Elder

Last season’s record: 13-23

Top returning players: Grace Thompson, jr., S/RS; Ella Lombardo, jr., S/RS; Taylor Vugteveen, jr., OH; Sophia Rothlisberger, so., OH; Bridgete Hooper, sr., DS; Elizabeth Marshall, sr., DS

Worth noting: The Mustangs are coming off a historic season, the program’s first regional title. The setter/right side combo of Thompson and Lombardo, dynamic attacker Vugteveen and rising star Rothlisberger all return from that team.

Elder, a Plainfield Central graduate who previously coached freshman volleyball at his alma mater, takes over as head coach. He also just completed his first season as a club coach with Lions Juniors South West Prairie, helping lead the program to a national championship.

“Last season’s momentum carried us into sectionals,” Elder said, “and now our goals are clear: build strong team chemistry, compete with relentless energy, continue developing a fearless mindset on the court, and ultimately make a run to state.”