BLANCHARDVILLE — The Vikings spent the 2020 volleyball season struggling to find a rhythm. Pecatonica finished 4-4 and missed additional matches due to school closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team returned right as the postseason began, but fell to rival Argyle on Pecatonica’s home court.

Gone from the team are first-team all-conference setter and hitter Sydney Eaton, middle blocker Lexi McSherry and outside hitter Lily Busser, who was an honorable mention all-conference pick. 

Back this year for some redemption include six seniors and five talented juniors. Leading the way will be Tessa Green, who was a first-team all-conference setter and hitter as a sophomore in 2019, and took home second-team honors as a junior last fall. Seniors Lexi Peterson and Siri Thronson look to take over at middle blocker, with seniors Gracie Gordon and Samantha Ihm filling in on the outside. Senior Niveah Gross will serve as libero.

Also returning are three junior defensive specialists: Trinity Gruenenfelder, Kyra Chrostowski and Sophie Carr, as well as setter Chloe Schraepfer and outside hitter Sienna Runden. 

“We have a lot of really talented girls and I expect us to come together and compete in every game we play,” said Liz McGowan, now in her third year as head coach. “We are super excited that six of our returning veteran players are seniors. We think the leadership and experience that they bring to our team and the court will be one of our biggest strengths this year.”

This year McGowan will share head coaching duties with Tori Leonard, who returns after a break from coaching but has five years head coaching experience at Pecatonica and 13 years overall. 

“As coaches, we expect us all to be fully committed to our program and bring everything we’ve got to the table,” McGowan said. “My goal is for us to work hard and win games, and if we lose — to learn from it and use it to help us get better.”

McGowan said that the changing dynamic of the Six Rivers East could be a challenge for her squad. Black Hawk graduated four all-conference players, Monticello and Argyle return a plethora of talent, Albany has aggressive players at the net, Barneveld’s program consistently finishes in the top half of the conference and Juda is scrappy each set. To compensate, McGowan said one of the team’s biggest focuses will be on mental toughness to weather the storm of league play.

“Every team we played in summer league showed something a little different and we will approach every game like we are playing the toughest team in our conference. They all bring different strengths and tempos of play,” McGowan said.