After setter Hannah Juley ‘15 graduated and committed to University of Wisconsin- Madison, the girls varsity volleyball team knew they were going to have to make several adjustments. Not only was she one of the most valuable players on the varsity volleyball team last season, but the team also had no official setter for this upcoming season, varsity volleyball coach Joann Pyritz said.

The setter is one of the most crucial players on the court. Not only do they need to be agile and athletic, but also a team leader. This upcoming season two senior defensive specialists were asked to step up for the upcoming season to set: Meg Kern ‘16 and Marina Gonzalez ’16.

“I think both, Gonzalez and Kern are good athletes and that they are going to rise to the occasion,” Pyritz said.

During practices Pyritz believes that training athletes in different positions makes the team stronger because they are developed in more than one area on the court.

“Honestly I love the change of position,” Gonzalez said. “It gives me an opportunity to make a larger impact on the team and really show my versatility.”

Both girls were defensive specialists in the previous season, which made changing positions a lot easier because both girls are able to play all six rotations.

“We want to win games of course, but ultimately we want to be better in October than we were in September,” Pyritz said.

The vast majority of the hitters on the varsity team are familiar with setters who have been setting their whole volleyball career, Kern said.

Kern and Gonzalez aren’t the only ones who needed to make adjustments so does the rest of the team. It is a brand new environment this year after eight seniors graduated last season.

“It’s a new group, but we’ve been working our hardest to make things work,” Kern said.

The goal for the girls varsity season is to be top in the conference. Their current record is 3-4. Last week LT took a hard loss to Glenbard West.

“We are still experimenting positions. Different people are playing different positions they’ve never played,” Pyritz said. “We are still trying to find the strongest line-up.”

Although Kern, Gonzalez and the rest of the varsity team have to make major adjustments to be where they were last season, they plan to win every conference game in order to place at the top.

“In high school you take the players you have, you make the best of it and you make the best team you can,” Pryitz said.