By Jacob Heid

Sports Editor

STEVENS POINT – The Pacelli volleyball team is another team that finished at the top of the CWC-South in 2022. 

They are a consistent threat for an annual conference title shot. 

With Head Coach Roy Danforth at the center of the program, his big focus this year is team chemistry and improvement in different aspects of the game.   

“I’m looking forward to improvement. We have a lot of people with a lot of experience, but we also have a lot of younger people that didn’t have a lot of experience,” Danforth said. “Our success will be how much we gel.”

Two potential leaders on this year’s team come from two different classes. 

Senior Casey Vaughan was one of the kill leaders last year and is back for her final season. 

Junior Katy Ilkka is a back-row player for the Cardinals, and she can use her experience to help develop the younger players on the team. 

Both were paired with players during an early-season practice for this reason.  

“We were having them work with a couple of the freshmen that we have. Use their experience to help teach because quite often, players learn from other players better,” Danforth said.

Danforth loves playing aggressively at the net and hopes to continue that this season.

“Yes, and I hope that we do that better,” Danforth said as he explained why the team looks to improve on that part of the game.

Outside of winning matches as the clear answer to competing for a conference championship, teams have to be ready for any obstacle that comes their way. 

That includes being ready to go when they hit the floor for a match. 

“We’ve got to be mentally tough. We’ve got to be ready to play, no matter who we play,” Danforth stated. “I think we can play with anybody in the conference.” 

Pacelli has its first scrimmage of the year on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 9 a.m. at Marathon High School.