NEW MADISON – The Lady Patriots closed out the last year of the Cross County Conference with a league title going undefeated in Volleyball. The Patriots also made some noise in the post-season as well.
Tri-Village will be returning several key contributors from last year so look for them to contend for the first ever WOAC title and make another long tournament run.
Offensively the Patriots will try to have a balanced attack in each rotation. “I want our setters to be comfortable spreading the ball out and confident that all our hitters can get a kill,” Tri-Village coach Chris Brewer said.
Defensively look for Tri-Village to be sold at the net blocking and the defense set-up to play strong behind it.
“Offensively and defensively the Patriots show very little weakness. “We are very well balanced on offense and able to serve tough … and we play very sound defense at the net,” Brewer mentioned as team strengths.
Keys to the season for Tri-Village and coach Brewer was to strengthen competition.
“Playing a tougher schedule this year will help build momentum towards the tourney. We didn’t have much turnover from last year’s team, but it takes time to get back to the place where we last season,” Brewer commented.
“We want to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke and that we can get back to that level of volleyball this season. It will be a lot harder this season because we’ll have a target on our backs,” Brewer added.
I asked Brewer who he expected to be top teams in the conference and like many others he mentioned Arcanum and Franklin Monroe.
“You can always count on us, Arcanum, and FM being in the hunt for a conference title. I wouldn’t count out anyone at this point. Last year was an odd season and I think teams may be more comfortable this year and that will allow them to play at a higher level. That really is the nice thing about our new conference is volleyball isn’t dominated by one school. It can change from season to season,” Brewer concluded.
Team Roster
# Name Grade Position
| 3 | Nataliegh Koontz | Sophomore | RS, MB | |
| 4 | Ashlynn Wilson | Senior | S | |
| 5 | Molly Scantland | Senior | OH | |
| 9 | Madi Mead | Senior | MB | |
| 10 | Meghan Downing | Senior | RS | |
| 11 | Maria Petry | Senior | MB | |
| 13 | Shelby Mintkenbaugh | Junior | S | |
| 15 | Morgan Hunt | Junior | OH | |
| 17 | Maddie Bennett | Senior | MB, RS | |
| 22 | Nevaeh Reigelsberger | Junior | DS | |
| 25 | Caeli Updike | Senior | L |
Team Schedule
| Aug. 2021 | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | |
| Sat. 28 | at Greenville Federal Invite | 10:00 AM | Arcanum | |
| Tue. 31 | at Mississinawa Valley | 05:30 PM | Mississinawa Valley HS | |
| Sep. 2021 | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | |
| Thu. 2 | at Tri-County North | 05:30 PM | Tri-Village | |
| Thu. 9 | at Newton | 05:30 PM | Newton | |
| Sat. 11 | at New Bremen – JV Only | TBA | New Bremen | |
| Tue. 14 | Arcanum | 05:30 PM | Tri-Village | |
| Thu. 16 | Ansonia | 05:30 PM | Tri-Village | |
| Tue. 21 | at Dixie | 05:30 PM | Dixie | |
| Thu. 23 | National Trail | 05:30 PM | Tri-Village | |
| Sat. 25 | at Minster Invitational | TBA | Minster | |
| Tue. 28 | at Franklin Monroe | 05:30 PM | Franklin Monroe | |
| Thu. 30 | Bradford | 05:30 PM | Tri-Village | |
| Oct. 2021 | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | |
| Sat. 2 | at New Bremen – Varsity Only | TBA | New Bremen | |
| Tue. 5 | at Twin Valley South | 05:30 PM | Twin Valley South | |
| Thu. 7 | Preble Shawnee | 05:30 PM | Tri-Village | |
| Sat. 9 | at Troy Christian | 10:00 AM | Troy Christian |
