Bethel moved their practices to Tecumseh while construction of their school continues.- Photo by SETH GECKO

Lauren Siebenaller is beginning her second year at the helm of the Bethel volleyball team, and she has very realistic and reachable goals for the Bees this season.

Some coaches talk about going to state, others push for a league title, but Siebenaller knows the past history of Bethel volleyball. The aspect of winning hasn’t been instilled and the time to change that according to the coach, is now.

“Our goal as a team is to get into double digit wins,” the coach said. “Last year we finished 7-16 and I think we can get higher than ten. That is our measurable goal.”

“We have to finish games and that is something we struggled with last season,” she added. “The culture of volleyball has struggled to be a winning program, and this year we are working a lot at practice on finishing games. We need to stay consistent during the entire match.”

Siebenaller has seen some good things in the two weeks of practice so far this fall, and admits to also seeing some improvements from this time last year.

“We have a lot of girls competing for spots, and there is a lot of competition out there,” Siebenaller said. “I have been seeing a lot more complex skills that I saw at the beginning of last season, so I haven’t had to do as much basic teaching as last year, since the skills are already there.”

This summer was also productive for the Bees, as the girls worked on their skills and prepared themselves for the start of practice.

“We had a lot of participation this summer, and had a couple of opportunities to get a lot of playing time in at Kings Island in a tournament, along with a tournament at Milton Union plus Ohio Dominican came in and did a tournament.”

Returning for the Bees are seniors Mikayla Hoeferlin is one of the captains for the Bees, and will play on the right side for Bethel. Sarah Swisher is another senior back, who missed time due to various injuries and will play in the middle.

Seniors Kelsey Sargent, Mady Vanhoose and Ashley Buchholtz round out a senior class looking to compete for the Bees. Sargent and Vanhoose will likely play on the right side, while Buchholtz will be a utility player for the Bees.

Alaina Hawthorn will lead the junior class for the Bees, which consists of two players.

“We are really looking for Alaina to step up for us this year,” Siebenaller said. “She won’t come off the court, and she will be a good outside hitter for us.”

The other junior is Jackie Ontiveros, who will play her first year of varsity and handle the setting duties for the Bees.

Four sophomores who will challenge for time will be Klaudia Lowery, Emily Berkshire, Jessica Gilbride and Connor Heck.

Siebenaller knows that if they can reach that goal of at least ten wins, the Bees will move up in the Cross County Conference and compete at a higher level.

“There were a couple of games last year we barely lost to,” she said. Siebenaller stated that Mississinawa Valley, National Trail and Ansonia are all teams that could determine where the Bees place in the league, as all of those teams are expected to battle it out to move up in the league. The Bees coach knows that knocking them off will help their place in the standings.

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First Group 2x2
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