Photo by Sam Thiel The 2021 Dawson-Boyd volleyball team includes front row (L to R): Madison Hansen, Sara Larson, Alivia Haas, Emma Peterson, Matti Grawell and Natayah Ritter. Middle row (L to R): Paige Conover, Madison Selchert, Emerson Olson, Alli Estling, Maddie Wente, Addison Tufto and Carmen Broers. Back row (L to R): Bailey Bothun, Reese Johnson, Laney Bartunek, Ana Hastad, Hayley Anderson, Chelsie Husby and Kate Dahl.

DAWSON — Last season, the Dawson-Boyd volleyball team had a tough year, recording just one win in the pandemic-shortened schedule. This year, Dawson-Boyd will look to bounce back under coach Andrea Enger.

Dawson-Boyd will feature a mix of youth and experience, returning four players from a season ago, and will be led by Ana Hastad, Bailey Bothun, Chelsie Husby and Kate Dahl. Alivia Haas will also look to make an impact on the floor.

Enger said she expects her young players to work hard each day and communicate with each other and leave everything out on the floor.

“I talked to the girls about our expectations; we want to work hard and we’re young so they have a lot of roles to fill,” Enger said. “Communication will also be key and we need to give it our all on the floor.”

During the first couple of weeks of practice, Enger said their main focus will be on their passing, which she added will be a strength for their team this year.

“We’ve been focusing a lot on passing the ball, that’s going to be our strength this year,” Enger said. “You can’t play volleyball without a good pass.”

Enger said an area they hope to improve on is their offensive attack in the front row.

“[We want to improve in] the front row with our hitting,” Enger said. “We have a couple of good young front row players, so I’m hoping we can improve on that a lot this year.”

Dawson-Boyd will start the season on Thursday on the road against Ortonville at 7:15 p.m. Going into the season, Enger said she’s looking forward to getting to be around her players every day as well as having a more normal season.

“I’m looking forward to having a young group that really loves to play volleyball and just the excitement they have for it,” Enger said. “And then just hopefully a normal year as well.”