Head Coach Tina Olyer and her volleyball squad have been preparing for the start of the 2019 season. The Lady Raiders are coming off of a 7-14 record from the 2018 season. This season, FM looks to build a new team after losing many key players.
Coach Olyer returns no sophomores on this year's team and will rely heavily on the newcomers. The Lady Raiders will be looking to Olivia Casey, Macenzie Ward, Emily Mormando, Taylor Denmark, and Danika Dygon to be key players this year. Mallory Baldwin, Aimee-Lynn Ahumada and Cheyenne Morrison are newcomers to the game and have been working very hard to get brought up to speed in the positions they will be playing.
The team has spent the last three weeks working on communication and improving as a team. "The girls have been working hard and have spent the last three weeks building trust in each other. We have spent a lot of time working through drills with a focus on defense, passing fundamentals, communication, accuracy and efficiency in these areas. We have also spent some time trying to get everyone up to speed in positions they will be playing that they may not use to playing. There are several well rounded all around players which will give us the ability to work in different rotations. The girls have been challenged very early in the season with some significant injuries to their teammates and have remained calm and focused as we worked through different line-ups," said Olyer.
Mike Calvello has taken over as the new assistant coach and brings over 25 years of coaching experience to the program. "Mike has an immense wealth of knowledge in all aspects of the game and will be a valuable asset to the coaching staff- we are fortunate to have him with us," said Olyer.
The Lady Raiders will begin their season on Saturday, September 7th when they travel to take part in the Jefferson CC invitational. FM will host Herkimer College at home on September 11th at 7:00 p.m.