“It will be completely up to how the team decides to play. When it comes to volleyball, anyone can beat anyone on the day. Do I think they can do it, absolutely, but I can only put the lineup in: they have to actually do the work,” said LN teacher and varsity volleyball head coach, Alysia Baznik.

On Nov. 3 2022, at 5:00 p.m. the Knight’s varsity volleyball team’s starting lineup took the court at Portage Northern, facing off against opponent Sturgis High School.

After a hard battle, the Knights came out on the short end, losing all three sets. The first of the three sets was 19-25 Sturgis, the second 12-25 Sturgis, and the third and final set was 13-25 Sturgis.

Although it was a tough loss losing in the first round of districts, there was a universal feeling of pride and accomplishment amongst the team when it came to the 2022 season.

“I wish we would have won more conference games, but overall, I think we did really well. We won tournaments and did well there, so it was a pretty good season,” said two year varsity player and senior Vivian Marshall.

The team is also attributing their new found success to the change of coaching staff this year. Five year teacher Alysia Baznik took over the head coaching position this season, and there are visible improvements in the team’s performances.

“This season has been much better. I think having a new coach can bring a lot more new energy to the team than we’ve seen in the last few years,” said two year player and senior Olivia Ward.

The change in leadership isn’t the only thing that has shifted, the Knights have made drastic changes to their entire team dynamic. Moving on from last year, the players have made much closer friendships and truly there for each other. Through thick and thin, the players were by each other’s sides, and made many improvements as a whole.

“There was a much better way of communicating throughout the team on and off the court, and the respect between players and coaches has grown quite a bit then years prior,” said four year varsity player and senior Gracie Goschke.

Those stronger friendships and tighter team dynamic have led the Knights to a much more positive season.

Unlike last year, the team has fought their way to a winning record and are seeing a lot of improvement on the court. They started off the season very strong with three wins and a tournament title under their belt.

“Starting the season with three wins and winning the tournament was big because in past seasons they haven’t done a lot of winning. So it was a really cool moment of realization of, ‘Oh, we can do this. This is cool, we’re doing something right,’” said coach Baznik.

As the season progressed the Knights started to experience less success in conference against the other division 1 schools in our area, but they continued to fight hard and try their very best out on the court.

Even though the Knights lost a bit of steam towards the end of the season, they earned themselves a winning record for the first time in a while.

Many players have come to the conclusion that Coach Baznik was a great addition and has gotten them over the hump that they couldn’t seem to conquer under her predecessor.

“She is positive, she is really experienced, and she’s just a better coach because of her knowledge of the sport and skills explaining things. She is just overall awesome and a big improvement from years prior,” said Vivian Marshall.

With many years to come, Coach Baznik still has lots of work to do, but she has already shown tremendous promise. From achieving a winning record, to helping guide new friendships and a stronger team bond, she has really proven herself to be a great fit for the Knights.

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