Just one year separated from a 19-5 record and a second place league finish, Soroco volleyball has a brand new look this season. 

With just three seniors, one returning varsity player and a first-year head coach, Soroco is a young team with little varsity experience. 

Coach Sarah Pierce called this season a rebuilding year but thinks her girls have the talent and ability to impress their fans and opponents. 

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“We are such a young team and trying to pull players together that have never played together before,” Pierce said. “It’s a tall order for them, but they’re doing really well with it. Our first two matches we lost, but not by very much. It was super impressive to watch them.”

The Rams dropped their first two matches of the season at Cedaredge and Olathe with 3-2 and 3-1 losses, respectively. 

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Still, Pierce is proud of the way they performed despite the end result and said that a lot of good things came out of those losses, especially considering the vast majority of the girls have had no varsity time. 

She plans to bring the team’s weaknesses to attention during practice and work toward creating a more competitive and confident squad. 

“Our No. 1 goal is to be able to execute a kill; that’s where we struggle the most,” Pierce said. “We were getting the ball up, but nobody was putting it down and executing and getting points off of that, so that’s our No. 1 focus.”

Pierce had been the assistant coach for four years before taking over as head coach this season. With all of the moving parts this year, she is working on settling in and getting the team comfortable with their new environment.

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The girls are excited for this season and happy to be back competing with their friends. Having so many graduates last year brings a unique opportunity to the team where several spots have become available for the athletes to compete for.

The Rams are 0-2 this year but have some time to work on growing a young team and that could pay off dividends for the team’s future. The girls compete in the home opener on Friday, Sept. 2, against Caprock Academy.

Pierce sees the upcoming match as an opportunity to check in on team progress. She believes the girls are going to shock themselves on the court this season.

“What’s nice about volleyball at Soroco is everybody that plays volleyball absolutely loves it,” Pierce said. “Everybody, if they’re dedicated, has really good foundation skills, and everybody that’s on the team, they’re fighters.”

To reach Tom Skulski, call 970-871-4240, email tskulski@SteamboatPilot.com.