FIELD TWP- North Woods Head Volleyball Coach Kandi Olson has more questions than answers heading into a new season for the Grizzlies, and she couldn’t care less. She’s far too excited to welcome her players back to practice now that the season has shifted back to fall.
“Our whole team was thrilled when they heard they had reinstated volleyball,” Olson said last Friday. “I think we’re going to have some exciting moments coming from some young players that are going to unexpectedly fulfill some big roles.”
The Grizzlies will start the season on the road on Oct. 9 against South Ridge, and return home for matches against Mt. Iron-Buhl and International Falls on Oct. 12 and 13. No spectators will be allowed to attend indoor sporting events due to state coronavirus restrictions.
Olson has the task of replacing four key seniors from last year’s squad, and one player she’ll be counting on for leadership is junior Morgan Burnett, a strong contributor to the Grizzlies' efforts last year.
But the Grizzlies will be a young team, and Olson's players will fill multiple roles as the season progresses.
“Morgan’s probably the most experienced person on the court,” Olson said.
COVID-19 restrictions limited opportunities for student-athletes to improve their skills during the off season, Olson said.
“We can work on the team skills here at school, but if they want to grow as a player, they need to work individually on their own personal skills,” Olson said. “There were some clubs that were still playing, but very few camps were available. I just rely on them to put the time in.”
Since the year started with volleyball and football scheduled for the spring, many student-athletes chose to try a new fall sport, such as cross country. Now that volleyball has moved back to fall, students have a choice to make, and Olson said staff would be fully supportive if students wanted to attempt two sports at once, rather than choose one over the other.
Overall, Grizzlies volleyball this year will be characterzed by one word – flexibility.
“We have a very unusual year this year, because all of our players coming back, first of all, are pretty young,” Olson said. “But also, they have to fill different shoes this year, because on any given day, we might have multiple people out due to illness or other circumstances. What I’m telling the kids this year is that they have to be ready and flexible. Granted, not everyone wants to play every position, but we need to be flexible so that they are capable of playing more than one.”