Every collegiate athletic team undergoes some sort of metamorphosis every offseason, and for the 2023 Lewis-Clark State Volleyball team, it might be its largest one to date.
No one team can remain the same from season to season, that is just the nature of the beast that is college sports. Whether it is seniors graduating, incoming freshmen moving up to a new level of competition, students transferring to a new school, or a change in the coaching staff, the Warriors experienced all of those this offseason.
All of the changes the team went through have brought on a fun feeling of unknown to the upcoming season that begins at 1 p.m. on Friday at home against Cascade Conference opponent Walla Walla.
One of the biggest changes came at the top as Katie (Hinrichs) Palmer was named as the 14th head coach of an LC State team that went 16-12 last season, and returned to a Warrior program that she led to a 112-24 record as a player. Palmer was a standout libero for the program and etched her name in the record books for most single-match digs (41), single-season digs (561) and sits in second for career digs with 1,585.
“It’s truly an honor to lead the program that had such an amazing impact on my life during my collegiate career,” Palmer said. “All 12 years of my coaching career have prepared me for this journey and I couldn’t be more excited. There’s no place like LC State. It’s truly special.”
Palmer takes over a team that saw six players graduate last season and 11 of the 19 rostered will play their first matches with LC State this upcoming season. Out of the nine women who recorded over 90 sets played last season, only two return this year. The two most-experienced returners are sophomore Esther Kailiponi and senior Kenzie Dean, who is marching up the same career digs record book that Palmer is on.
“Our sole focus since starting practices has been improvement. As a staff, we believe improvement starts with the environment we create as leaders in the gym,” Palmer said. “The student-athletes are asking questions, seeking additional opportunities to practice, and experiencing joy when they see the dots connect.”
Dean, playing in her fifth year with the Warriors, currently sits in eighth place on that career list with 1,281 digs. The Athol, Idaho, native averaged 461.5 digs over the past two seasons, with that pace she would pass her new head coach for second all-time and be within 50 of Kymm Lingnaw who played from 1994-97 and had 1,788 digs in her Warrior career.
Kailiponi joined LC State last year and made an instant impact as a true freshman, playing in every match and participating in 104 sets. Only Dean and Cassidy Nelson played in more. The setter from Anaheim, Calif., had 526 assists to lead the team. 30 of those assists came early in the season in a September contest with College of Idaho. Sophomore Juliauna Forgach Aguilar also returns after having a strong freshman season. The Morenci, Ariz., native had 84 kills in 65 sets played.
Senior Hallie Seaman returns after setting career records in kills (40), total blocks (24) and points (56.5) last year. Kierstyn York, another seasoned middle blocker, will help solidify a front line that saw the most changes in the offseason. Senior libero Ashlee Bachman, a Lewiston native, will look to add to her 35 career aces.
LC State worked hard in the offseason to bring in new players, and the roster is full of talent that the Warrior fanbase will see for the first time.
Junior transfers Sofie Langer (NCAA DI Norfolk State), Abby Meyer (Spokane Falls CC), Missy Mortensen (Central Wyoming CC), Abbey Neff (North Idaho College), Anna Merrill (NCAA DII Colorado Christian) and Natany Felix Guimaraes (Jefferson College) will bring the team experience from across the country. Taylin Rowley joined fellow North Idaho College transfer Neff in joining the team this season.
“Foundation is our sole focus. This will allow us to meet our expectation to compete in every match,” Palmer said. “We often tell our student-athletes to trust their training. I believe I have the best staff at teaching and building confidence. Once we get our student-athletes trusting their training, then they can master the moment. Mastering the moment will come in the second half of CCC competition.”
The Warriors also brought in four freshmen to the squad; three close to home and one not so much. Gianna Anderson (Oakesdale HS), Karissa Lindner (Mt. Spokane HS) and Makenzie Stout (Genesee HS) all made the short trip to Lewiston to play collegiate volleyball. Livia Haesslein traveled a bit farther, moving to the valley from Munich, Germany.
“Our freshmen are a confident and comfortable group. I believe the connection between Makenzie Stout and Gianna Anderson as lifelong teammates in club volleyball is special,” Palmer said. “This allows them to play poised and compete at a really nice level as first year collegiate student-athletes. It spills over to the rest of the group and I’m excited to see how they grow over the next four years.”
The Warriors open the season on Friday at home against CCC travel partner Walla Walla before starting non-conference action on Saturday against former Frontier Conference opponent Montana Western. LC State will travel as a team to Surprise, Ariz., to compete at the OUAZ Invitational where the Warriors will face Ottawa (Ariz.), Montana Western, Arizona Christian and MSU-Northern.
After the road trip, LC bounces back into conference play with home matches against Northwest (Wash.) and Evergreen State (Wash.) Sept. 1 and 2. The Warriors host defending NAIA National Runner-Up Corban (Ore.), ranked No. 2 in the NAIA preseason poll, on Sept. 15 and third-ranked Eastern Oregon on Nov. 3. The Warriors, ranked sixth in the CCC preseason poll, close out the regular season on Nov. 4 at home against in-state rival College of Idaho.
The Cascade Conference tournament, presented by U.S. Bank, is slated for Nov. 7-11 at the site of the top-seeded school.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
