NTL VOLLEYBALL: FIRST-YEAR SAYRE COACH LIKES WHAT HE SEES HEADING INTO 2025 SEASON (2025-08-26)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
SAYRE — First-year Sayre volleyball coach Colby Sangrey likes what he sees from his young team as it heads into the 2025 season.

"This team is full of energy and hustle," he said. "They're excited to get out there and play some volleyball, and we're excited to see what they're going to do on the court this year.

"We have an 'always-hustle, never-quit' attitude about how we play," Sangrey noted. 

"We had the opportunity to play some high=level schools this past weekend at Dallas, and the girls impressed me with how the played, especially given that we were running a few different rotations," Sangrey added.

Junior Yhale Doon will start at setter for the Redskins, with senior Rylee Lantz at middle hitter, junior Azalea McClenny at middle blocker, sophomore Reghan McGaughey and freshman Lilliana Schack at outside hitters, and sophomore Emily Strickland at right-side hitter.

Senior Alex Schack is the libero, and sophomore Grace Russo is the defensive specialist.

Junior Sydney Gratkowski will vie for time at middle blocker and outside hitter, and senior Harley Brown will vie for time at outside and right-side hitter.

Sangrey has a few players he believes people should keep an eye on.

"We're excited to see Rylee Lantz's hitting and blocking out of the middle," he said.

"We're also looking forward to seeing both offense and defense from our outside hitters — Reghan McGaughey and Lilliana Schack.
 
"Our back row players — Alex Schack and Grace Russo — are going to keep a lot of rallies alive for us and put us into a good position to run some of our offense," noted Sangrey. 

"Yhale Doon is running the offense this year, so we're excited to see how she captains that," he added.

The Redskins also have a few newcomers to watch, notes Sangrey.

"We have Emily Strickland seeing her first varsity time on the right side, and Azalea McClenny is starting at middle of varsity for the first time.

"Lilliana Schack will also be playing the whole way around as a freshman," he said.

Sangrey knows there will be some bumps in the road in 2025.

"It's not necessarily a concern, but with being such a young team, there are some situations that we haven't seen before," he said. "We'll have lots of learning opportunities throughout the season, so I expect us to grow a lot this year."

The Redskins have lost 66 straight matches entering the 2025 season, so Sangrey isn't setting expectations for this team based on wins and losses.

"We're expecting to be competitive in all of our games this year," he said. "We're not focusing on wins or losses, but if we work on improving each day, the good things will come naturally.

"We're focused on improving one day at a time," added Sangrey. "We want to continue building that chemistry and cohesiveness on the court. If we focus on continually improving, success will come."

AROUND THE NTL
"The NTL always has solid teams, so we'll have competitive matches every time," said Sangrey. "We're focused on taking the season one match at a time and preparing for our next opponent every day."

Sayre opens the 2025 campaign at home Tuesday against North Penn-Liberty.

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IN PHOTO: Sayre senior Rylee Lantz. ... VSR STOCK PHOTO.

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