Washburn Ichabods Volleyball team is prepared for this year. So far, the team is doing very well in practice.

Chris Herron, head volleyball coach, said, “I don’t have any issues with any of the efforts I’m getting out of the group. So far it’s been OK.”

This year, the team received votes for the No. 1 spot in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association’s preseason coaches poll, even when they lost some valuable players.

“I was surprised because we lost the two-time All-American here. You know, Marissa was a great player. But I also think that sometimes that just comes because we’ve been good consistently for a long time. So they just kind of put us there,” Herron said.

Herron is determined to be better than last year. According to Herron, many changes are coming to the format and techniques of the team. This, Herron hopes, will boost the team’s performance in the coming season.

Herron lamented that last year the team had trouble blocking volleyballs on the right side due to not being big enough resulting in a couple losses.

“So we’re going to change that,” Herron said. “We’ll be bigger, we’ll be more physical.”

Many players are optimistic about the new season and are looking forward to the challenges.

“Last year we had so many new people it was kind of intense and hard to get into the swing of things. This year it’s a much easier transition because we have so many returners, so it’s going pretty well,” said Leanna Willer, junior outside hitter.

“I am hoping to have a good season with my teammates and get a lot of good wins and just have the best season possibly we can,” said Sarah Vicory, junior middle hitter.

Team members encouraged students to attend the games and support the women.

“We’re really excited for everyone to come out to our games. Hopefully we can get a lot of students here and have that support. Last year when we played in Emporia we had an amazing crowd and student section. That really helps us to have a lot of energy and get hyped for the game,” Willer said.

“We really appreciate everyone’s support and it really helps us get excited when we see lots of people in the stand cheering for us,” Vicory said.

Corey Perkins and Derek Richardson also contributed to this story.