The Lovell Lady Bulldog volleyball team is back and players are getting ready for the season-opening North Big Horn Invitational Tournament, set for tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday in Lovell, with junior varsity games to be held in Byron.


Returning coach Mike Greenlee said that the team has some good players this year and a solid and versatile freshman class that will boost the program for years to come.


A core group of seniors, Kristen Scheffler, Kristin Evanoff, Wendy Walker, Lauren Winterholler and Katie Bassett, graduated in May, leaving the team with less senior leadership out of the gate this year.


Nonetheless, Greenlee is confident that returning varsity players juniors Mykel Anderson, Stephanie Green, Danielle Reasch, Katie Walker and sophomore Karen Koritnik will continue with the high level of play they adopted last season, the first season in recent years that Lovell was in the 3A division.


Greenlee said what he likes about the team is that the several juniors will have another full year of varsity experience before they graduate.


The coach said the team will run a 5-1 offense, keeping their best setter on the court to provide consistent sets for hitters. Greenlee hopes to find another solid hitter and a back-row specialist to join the varsity ranks.


The team has been running two-a-day practices last week and this week.


There are 28 girls out for the team this year, Greenlee said. Dave Scheffler will be on board again this year as assistant coach.


Greenlee is looking forward to this weekend’s tournament and will continue to shuffle players around to find what positions each is best suited for. With nine matches for the Lady Bulldogs, Greenlee said it will be a great time for the girls to get some more experience.


“It’s pretty much a no-pressure situation,” he said about the non-conference tournament. “You want to win matches, but it’s not like the pressure that we’ll have next week. It’s a good tournament to work the bugs out.”


As for the competition, Greenlee had this to say:


“Every team has their weaknesses and strengths, you just have to find them.”