By Matt Browning 

In 2022, the Sylvan-Lucas volleyball team advanced to the Class 1A Division I tournament, where they fell in pool play.

Even though the Mustangs lost second team all-state outside hitter Keeli Knobbe, they are posed to get back to the state tournament again this year.

“My expectations for this team are to defensively outwork all teams we face this season,” said head coach Linda Haring. “This group of girls has a strong team bond and work well as a unit. We expect to advance to repeat as league champions and advance to post-season play.”

The ceiling has been raised for Sylvan-Lucas and Haring and her players understand that goals and expectations change because of how successful the Mustangs were a year ago.

“Every time that a program has a team advance to state, it elevates the probability of returning as players understand what is necessary to achieve that goal,” Haring said. “So, yes, having reached state last year, our team this year is motivated to return and has the work ethic required to obtain that goal.”

Sylvan-Lucas lost all of its major statistical leaders to graduation, but return a balanced group of players that do have significant experience from 2022. Three starters (Emma Cline, Emma Finkenbinder and Maggie Labertew) are back, as well as five other letterwinners.

“We have no one standout on our team in terms of stats, as our major hitters graduated,” Haring said. “Instead, what we have are eight equally talented players who can all attack and set, making us more difficult to defend.”