The Atlantic volleyball team will get their season started on Thursday night with a dual at Des Moines Roosevelt followed by a weekend appearance at the AHSTW Tournament. The Trojans are looking to build off an 11-20 season in 2020 but will need some new faces to fill big roles.

Leading hitter Alyssa Derby has graduated along with assist leader Haley Rasmussen. Those two were also the top two players at the service line and Derby led the team in blocks last season as well. It will be a group of Juniors that will need to lead the way after getting some good experience as sophomores. Lexi Noelck, Aubrey Guyer, and Abby Smith are the most experienced returners. Smith was second on the team with 120 kills last season and Guyer was third with 100. Noelck was second in assists with 169.

The program has seen some gradual improvement and last year saw one of the most competitive top to bottom seasons in quite a while. Now we’ll see if they can take another step. We’ll have an interview with head coach Michelle Blake on Saturday morning for you on KJAN during our Saturday morning coaches show and that will continue throughout the season.