Four seniors will form the nucleus of the 2003 Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ volleyball team. They are (from left) Amanda Olson, Erin Boeve and Melissa Sandstede. Alissa Hoyme is not pictured.By John RittenhouseWith an experienced group of girls and one of the area’s most dominating players heading the list, all the pieces appear to be in place for Hills-Beaver Creek to have an outstanding 2003 volleyball season.During his pre-season interview, H-BC second-year coach Curt Doorneweerd revealed a 10-player roster (four seniors and six juniors) that he will use to start the season.The roster is loaded with experience as eight of the players lettered for the Patriots last season, and it includes the name of one of Southwest Minnesota’s best hitters in Erin Boeve.Having a combination of battle-tested athletes and an established go-to player has given Doorneweerd a fresh sense of optimism and no reason to believe the 2003 Patriots will not improve on their 10-12-3 record in 2002."We have a lot of girls who received a lot of court time last year," he said. "Experience, by far and away, is one of our biggest strengths. We also have a proven player in Erin Boeve, who is a very good leader. All of the girls get along with each other well, which is another plus. And they all want to play volleyball. I think we can have a very good year."The Patriots didn’t have a bad campaign in 2002.They struggled in Red Rock Conference play, going 4-7 and finishing eighth in the league, but H-BC won enough games to earn the third seed for the South Section 3A Tournament.Then, in a big upset, No. 6 Edgerton stunned the Patriots by knocking them out of the tournament with a 3-2 setback in the quarterfinals.The loss to Edgerton left Doorneweerd with a bad taste in his mouth, and he took it upon himself to become a better coach."I couldn’t wait for practice to start this year so I could forget about last year," the coach said. "We (Doorneweerd and his assistant coach, Greg Leenderts) learned a lot last season, and one of the things was we didn’t know as much about volleyball as we thought we did. Since then we’ve traveled to watch different teams play and attended coaching clinics to learn more about what’s going on."One of the coaching staff’s first duties in 2003 is to find replacements for five seniors who played key roles for the 2002 squad.Sarah Rozeboom will be the toughest player to replace. An all-around performer, Rozeboom’s play grabbed the attention of the coaches who nominated her to receive honorable mention on the All-RRC roster.Jody Rentschler, Melissa Fagerness, Angie Sjaarda and Angie Bush are the other senior members of the 2002 team. Doorneweerd said they all started matches for H-BC during the season.Although last year’s seniors logged a lot of court time, Doorneweerd found some opportunities to play his underclassmen in matches. By doing so, the coach gave himself the opportunity to lead an experienced team into battle in 2003.Boeve, one of the team’s four seniors, will be one of the area’s most experienced players this fall. The 6-0 hitter has played varsity volleyball since she was in the eighth grade. Boeve, who will play college volleyball at Iowa State University, made the All-RRC team as a junior.Boeve is the lone full-time starter returning to the fold, but two other current players drew starting assignments for H-BC during the course of last season.Senior Melinda Sandstede and junior Brittney Roozenboom shared setting duties for H-BC as the 2002 season progressed. Both 5-6 girls are competing for the starting setter position this fall. The one who doesn’t win the setting job will be asked to play as a hitter.Seniors Amanda Olson and Alissa Hoyme are projected hitters returning to the team with varsity letters from last season.The 5-9 Olson received a lot of playing time last fall, and is expected to play an expanded role for the team in 2003. The 5-8 Hoyme will get the chance to help the Patriots at the net this year as well.Juniors Kelly Mulder, Cassi Tilstra and Melinda Feucht round out the returning letter winners from 2002.The 6-0 Mulder and 5-8 Tilstra played as hitters in a lot of matches as sophomores for H-BC.Feucht, a 5-7 hitter, is expected to emerge as a key player for the Patriots in 2003.Rounding out the pre-season roster are juniors Diedre Vanden Bussche and Ashley Bosch.Vanden Bussche is a 5-4 hitter. Bosch is a 5-5 hitter.Doorneweerd will fill out his varsity roster with some underclassmen as the season progresses, but naming those players is not at the top of his priority list right now.At this point in time, the coach is more concerned with turning his juniors and seniors into a successful team."I think we definitely have the potential to improve on last year’s record," he said. "It all depends on how hard the girls work in practice and how they perform on the court."Doorneweerd lists defending champion Westbrook-Walnut Grove, Fulda and Southwest Christian as the teams to beat in the RRC. The coach said Southwest Star Concept could be a sleeper team to keep an eye on.If things progress as planned, the Patriots could find themselves in the hunt for a RRC title, too."We have the potential to finish in the top four teams in the conference," Doorneweerd said. "That’s my personal goal to reach as a coach. I think we can do that well or exceed that this year."
