Photo by Samantha Davis: The 2024 Tracy-Milroy-Balaton volleyball team consists of (front row, left to right) Cheyanne Hoffman, Piper Freeburg, Braelynn Kirk, Teagan Viessman, Allie Adams, Brianna Duscher, Avery Torgeson, (back row) Linaye Odom, Aliyah Loftness, Faith Abrahamson, Brooklyn Elsen, Kendra Timmerman, Melaina Ankrum, Allison Edwards, Kyli Carter, Emma Carter, Gretchen Lanoue. 

TRACY — Tracy-Milroy-Balaton’s volleyball team welcomes back 12 returners and adds four new players to their 2024 varsity squad, along with first-year coach Heather Kamrud-Rice. Joining Kamrud-Rice are assistant coaches Alicia Swenhaugen and Jadyn Lessman.

Senior Allison Edwards and junior Aliyah Loftness will be the setters this season, with Edwards starting in the role while senior Teagan Viessman will take on the position of libero. Team captains are Edwards, Viessman, Brianna Duscher, Brooklyn Elsen, Kyli Carter, Faith Abrahamson and Kendra Timmerman.

Kamrud-Rice grew up in Tracy, and played volleyball for the Panthers herself. She then coached B-Squad for a number of years before taking over head coaching duties from Rick Haberman this season.

“I’m really looking forward to the games, the anticipation, the grinding practices,” Kamrud-Rice said. “This group of seniors just have really good chemistry, and it makes the environment really fun. They’re really good to the kids below them … I really like the example that they’re setting.”

In addition to a majority of the team having varsity experience, Kamrud-Rice also detailed that the three sophomores will be starters.

“I think this is the year that they’re really going to start playing off of some of their experiences, but we do have some inexperience on the team too,” Kamrud-Ride said. “This is our setter’s [Edwards] first year [as a varsity starter] … She has great chemistry with the hitters. They work together really well, so I’m excited to see how they play together.”

Edwards gained experience setting for the varsity team last year playing in 36 sets and logging 57 assists. She will now take on a larger role following the graduation of Hailey Gernentz, who led the team with 479 set assists in her senior season.

Kirk led the team’s back row last season with 245 digs. Carter had a team-high 210 kills, while Adams also had 129. Carter also had 18 solo blocks and another 18 assisted blocks, leading the team in both categories. Behind Carter’s 36 total blocks, Duscher leads returners with 20 last season.

The Panthers finished with an overall 9-20 record last year.

“I didn’t even look at the record,” Kamrud-Rice said. “Not that I don’t care how they play, I absolutely care how they play. But that didn’t really matter to me at all, and it isn’t a reflection of the team, I don’t think.”

Through a troubling past season, the Panthers went on a three-game win streak toward the end of the year, defeating Grand Meadow, Lac Qui Parle Valley and Hills-Beaver Creek. The Panthers fell to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the Section 3A second round to end the year. The top-seeded RTR Knights went on to win the state championship.

Kamrud-Rice said she is entering the season drawing inspiration from former coaches that have coached in the program between when she was playing and when she was on B-Squad, and her dad, who was a natural coach throughout sports growing up.

Fall sports began practice last week, and TMB’s seniors promptly began taking their underclassmen in.

“The energy has been awesome, I mean it,” Kamrud-Rice said. “They’re just ready. They’re ready to do the work. They’re ready to celebrate together. They’re ready to pull each other through the mud. It’s beautiful.”

As the season progresses, injuries or adversity are always a possibility. Freshman Gretchen Lanoue is out for the season after sustaining a leg injury. She contributed 14 blocks as an eighth grader last year, finishing second on the team behind Carter’s 18.

“I sometimes use the phrase, ‘I thrive in chaos,'” Kamrud-Rice said. “I just take it one piece at a time, analyze it, trust my gut, and when I don’t know, then I try to find a better source for whatever it is that I need to problem solve for.”

TMB will begin their season on Thursday at Red Rock Central at 7:15 p.m. The Panthers walked away with a 3-0 victory the last time the two met, which was also the first match of last year.

Kamrud-Rice is going into the new season with strong relationships already made with the girls, as she also is the track and field coach, and was a part of the athletic enhancement program over the summer.

“I just feel like I’ve gotten to know these kids so much through so many different levels, that I don’t think it’s like this big change necessarily,” Kamrud-Rice said. “I think that they get me, like there’s already that relationship. So when we come into the gym, it’s the chemistry that has been built through all these other things we’ve been doing.”