Photo by Karen Berg Kiara (6), Olivia (15) and taylor Hinz (8) have been a major part of the Lakeview volleyball team’s leap forward in 2023.

The Lakeview volleyball team had a resurgence in 2023. A year after finishing with a 2-20 record, the Lakers have seen some major growth in their performance and finished the regular season at 10-14. A big part of that growth can be attributed to the play of the Hinzes.

Olivia Hinz is a senior with the team while her younger sister, Taylor, is a freshman. Their cousin Kiara, a sophomore, has also been a key piece of the team’s offensive production. While they put it all together this season, they’ve been playing together far longer.

“They’re very competitive with each other and definitely bring out the competitive spirit in each other,” Lakeview head coach Stephanie Hennen said, adding that their competitiveness manifests in different ways in each one of them. Olivia tends to be more of a quiet leader by example while Kiara brings a vocal presence to the locker room. Taylor, in her second year on varsity, has shown herself to be a hard worker who will fill whatever role is needed of her to help her team succeed.

Olivia recalled first picking up the sport around the time she was in fourth grade while Kiara remembered first starting around the time she was in sixth grade. They both had older sisters — Peyton and Kailey — who played the sport. For Olivia, it wasn’t until her mother, Carrie Hinz, signed her up that she started playing beyond just minigames in the backyard.

“They always seemed athletic when they were little and they just took to it really, really well. And they’ve stuck to it and enjoyed it,” Carrie said.

Growing up, Kiara first got introduced to the game by playing with her older sister Kailey. Kailey’s final years were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop Kiara from developing her passion for the sport.

“It was a totally different time then than right now,” Kiara’s mother, Jennifer Hinz, said. “I think [Kiara] learned to love the sport just by playing in the front yard with her older sister and then, in turn, her younger sisters [Adison and Avery] enjoyed playing with Kiara in the yard. I mean, you’ll find a lot of summer days that they’re just outside peppering and just messing around with the volleyball.”

When twins Adison and Avery were in just fourth grade, Kiara taught them how to overhand serve straight away, Jennifer said.

“I’d say she’s helped them become better players just by playing out in the yard with them and telling them random things when they first started playing,” Jennifer said. “‘Oh try this,’ or ‘Hold your hands this way.’ She’s helped her younger two sisters learn the sport and play the sport better as well.”

Kiara had also spent many a day at Taylor and Olivia’s house to play games like pepper and develop their skills. They had all played together over the summer in the Minnesota Breakdown series, a series of tournaments as far as Fergus Falls and St. Cloud, but this season was the trio’s first time all participating on the same varsity team.

“It just brings it to another level of communication and bonding,” Kiara said of the difference in playing together on the varsity team. Jennifer added that she felt that participating in the summer training was a big part of Kiara’s development as a leader.

While Taylor and Olivia had both participated in the Breakdown Series, Carrie characterized their participation in junior olympic volleyball. Taylor was promoted to varsity as an eighth grader but, like her sister, Carrie said she started to see how seriously her daughters took the sport around fifth or sixth grade as part of the program.

“It’s structured really, really well and they always try their hardest at anything they do,” Carrie said. She added that Olivia takes the sport more seriously than Taylor right now but that the difference can in part be attributed to the age difference.

“I think just because [Taylor’s] only a freshman, she hasn’t quite reached the level of seriousness that Olivia has, but they feed off each other too. It’s really nice to see,” Carrie said.

In the 2022 season, Lakeview lost each of its last 14 matches. They were swept in 10 of them. For many on the outside looking in, a season with double-digit wins just a year later seemed implausible. Doubts increased after the Lakers started the season losing five of their first six matches.

From there, however, the turnaround didn’t take long. Lakeview swept four of their next five opponents and a 3-1 win over Tracy-Milroy-Balaton had the Lakers triple their previous season’s win total by the end of September.

“I didn’t even go into this season expecting all these wins, so it’s nice to be able to enjoy this with my teammates for one last season,” Olivia said.

Kiara echoed the sentiment, saying that she was hoping for more wins but not to the extent that they’ve had so far.

“I knew we got a lot better, but it was a huge jump from last year,” Kiara said.

Part of the jump, Kiara said, can be attributed to the summer training sessions.

“I think that helped a ton with all of our communicating, just eating together and playing with each other. We also had different coaches helping us, which I think helped a lot just having different points of view,” Kiara said.

Part of the group’s development and ability to contribute to team success comes down to experience, Hennen said. Taylor and Kiara have been part of the varsity team for two and three years respectively while Olivia is participating in her fifth and final season. As a result, their volleyball IQ has improved just as a product of playing against varsity competition in one of Class A’s most competitive sections.

“They’ve really learned more about the game and understand the game much more,” Hennen said.

The Lakers will be taking on No. 2 Canby tonight at 7 p.m. At a time of year when any game could be their last of the season, Lakeview will be giving it their all on the court.

“I really just enjoy it. Enjoy the moments with my team, play my hardest, and do everything I can to help us move on to the next game,” Olivia said.