Photo by Samantha Davis: The 2025 Tracy-Milroy-Balaton volleyball team includes Piper Freeburg, Cheyenne Hoffman, Avery Torgeson, Taylor Munson, Lauren Knakmuhs, Melaina Ankrum, Emma Carter, Kaylie Danielson, Aryiana Rolling, Allie Adams, Braelynn Kirk, Aliyah Loftness, Brooke Swenhaugen, Elsie Knott, Gretchen Lanoue and Izabella Martinez.

TRACY — The Tracy-Milroy-Balaton volleyball team will be switching up its play style with a mix of returners and new players after graduating six core seniors ahead of the 2025 season.

TMB finished last season with a 13-16 record, a jump from its 9-20 campaign in the 2023 season, and fell in the 3A subsection quarterfinals to Adrian/Ellsworth in five sets. The Panthers avoided the tournament’s play-in round with a No. 5 seed, which also was an improvement from the previous season’s eighth-seeded finish.

“I learned a lot about our team, myself as a coach and this year we’ve got some returning players that got some really great experience last year,” second-year TMB head coach Heather Kamrud-Rice said. “I would like to see us have more success … We’ve got a pretty tough conference. Our overall record was 13-16 and I don’t think any of us were happy about that. We have a lot of work to do, and I’ve got a group of girls that are ready to put that work in.”

Kamrud-Rice is a Tracy native who was a former volleyball player for TMB herself.

TMB will make some adjustments this season in its play and roster after losing a significant group of seniors that contributed in large part to the program. Libero Teagan Viessman, setter Allison Edwards and outside hitter Kyli Carter were among the team’s key departures.

“It’s hard to lose some of those seniors, but I think that it’s been a pretty smooth transition so far,” Kamrud-Rice said. “We’ve got some great players coming up, and I feel like the chemistry on the team just keeps getting better and better.”

Viessman finished the 2024 season with a team-high 312 digs along with 51 assists and 18 service aces. Edwards led the Panthers with 615 set assists to her 144 digs, 50 kills, 19 ace blocks and 19 ace serves. Carter had a team-best 262 kills and 29 blocks, along with 110 digs.

But, the Panthers still have a lot of returning potential this season with a group that saw varsity time last year. Allie Adams, Braelynn Kirk, Piper Freeburg, Melaina Ankrum and Aliyah Loftness are amongst the returners that played last year that will look to lead TMB this season.

Particularly, Adams recorded 156 kills last year behind Carter, with a team-high 41 blocks, along with 35 service aces and 97 digs.

Kirk had 121 kills and 252 digs, and a team-high 49 service aces. Freeburg finished with 136 digs and 23 service aces, and Ankrum had 139 kills to her 211 digs and 31 blocks.

“This year we’re a lot closer, and we’ve really gotten [close] together over going to SDSU [South Dakota State] team camps and going to different camps over the summer,” Loftness said. “We’ve really made a connection as a team, that even if we do hit highs and lows, we’re still going to be there and try our hardest.”

Loftness also noted the team attended Southwest Minnesota State University camps over the summer, where they got the opportunity to work out more kinks and deepen the team’s bond.

Kamrud-Rice said the team will experiment with shifting from a traditional 5-1 offense to a 6-2, where there will now be two setters.

“I think we’ve run a 5-1 in Tracy for as long as I can remember,” Kamrud-Rice said. “We’re going to be switching things up to a 6-2, which changes some players’ roles and changes some dynamics, but I think it’s going to be a positive change.”

Loftness and Ankrum will be the team’s two setters, and Freeburg is set to return as the libero.

“I feel like our goals and expectations are just to push how we are as a team … It’s just to grow better as a team,” Loftness said. “We all are great players by ourselves, but if we all come together as one team and have one mission, then we’re going to really be great this season.”

TMB faced consistency struggles last season, dropping as many as four matches in a row and later winning seven of eight games midway through the year. The second half of the season for the Panthers was up-and-down.

“We’re going to take it one game at a time … We’re still rebuilding, and honestly there are a few positions that we’re going to be messing around with,” Kamrud-Rice said. “I’m just really looking forward to how these girls compete. They get fired up, then I get fired up, and that’s fun.”

Specifically, Kamrud-Rice noted the team is looking to hone in on its unforced errors this year, and detailed that as a significant struggle they had throughout the last season.

All players on the TMB roster are healthy to start the season, along with returning Gretchen Lanoue and Taylor Munson, who both missed last year while rehabbing knee injuries after having surgeries.

The Panthers open up the season at home with hosting Red Rock Central on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.. The two met in last year’s season opener with the Panthers winning in three sets.

TMB will then head on the road to face Windom on Aug. 26 at 7:15 p.m.

Kamrud-Rice is joined by assistant coaches Jadyn Lessman, Alicia Swenhaugen and Anna Fultz.

“I feel like we are going to set the tone by just trying to stay together,” Loftness said. “We’re just going to come out there and prove who we are, and what we are here to do this season.”