By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
WAVERLY — After a summer of hard work, Waverly volleyball coach Hailee Rote is excited to have a new home as her team prepares for the 2025 season.
"I'm really excited to be back in the gym," she said. "We were actually in the gym all summer. We did open gyms two or three times a week, and the girls lifted three times a week.
"We've been working all summer, but it's nice to have everybody in here ... we're ready to get the season started," Rote added.
Rote, who is beginning her third season at Waverly, said the numbers are outstanding this year.
"We have 10 for varsity, but we have 25 trying out for JV, which is the most we've had since I've been here.
"It's exciting to have that many out, a lot of competition," said Rote. "It will be fun."
With five seniors lost to graduation, the focus of the preseason is team chemistry.
"Our focus this preseason is just building our team energy.
"We lost five seniors last year, so trying to rebuild our team and see who's going to step up as leaders and build a good foundation," said Rote.
Along with some new faces, Rote and the team will have a new gym to christen this fall. The volleyball team was the only team not to use the new gym, which was not completed until Jan. 1, during the 2024-25 school year.
"We need to see what our culture is going to be in our new gym, after not having a gym last year," said Rote.
"The new gym is awesome. We have our own volleyball end of the gym, our stuff doesn't get touched," she laughed.
"It's really nice just to have two courts and have both teams practicing together," Rote added. "It's a nice change."
Waverly will scrimmage at home against Athens Tuesday, and then host Corning in a scrimmage Aug. 28.
The Wolverines open the 2025 season at home against Athens on Sept. 2.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly coach Hailee Rote. IN TOP PHOTO: Waverly's Emma Richards-Randall. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
