New Team, New Coach for ACGC Volleyball

When six seniors finished their high school volleyball careers last fall it meant that the 2021 version of ACGC volleyball would look considerably different from the 2020 version. Most of the diggers and setters from last season's 17-6 team are gone (as is veteran coach Trevor Irwin who accepted a teaching position in Adel), so this year's team is a relatively young team with two starters returning.

Those two starters--Alaina Bunde and Chloe Largent--are among the best hitters in the WCAC, so the task at hand for first year coach Jen Policky is the development of setters to mesh with the hitters to form a well rounded team.

"What we want to accomplish this year is to develop the basic skills and fundamentals in our younger players to put together the form and consistency necessary to be successful," Policky said when recently interviewed.

A graduate of Hastings College in Nebraska where she played her collegiate ball, Policky has had experience coaching club volleyball in the past. This is her first coaching position in an interscholastic setting.

Assisting Policky with her squad of twenty seven are Rylee Morris, Barb South, Tara Largent, and Aspen Matthewson.

The team recently participated in a scrimmage day at Des Moines Christian. Although no scores were kept, Policky indicated that the Chargers probably won three of the six matches they played.

With Largent currently wearing a boot following an ankle sprain, there is a fifty-fifty chance that she will be available for the season opener with Des Moines Christian on Thursday. Largent recently verbally committed to UNI to play volleyball for the Panthers after finishing her high school career.

Policky mentioned three players that are developing as setters including Megan Lemke, Mollie Gettler, and Emerson Van Meter. Others she says are showing promise include Mercedes Richter, Jordan Lemke, and Hayden Coffman.

When asked who she thought were the top teams in the conference Policky did not hesitate in naming Van Meter and DMC.