JAMESTOWN — The University of Jamestown women’s volleyball team is heading into the 2024 season after spending a lot of time together bonding in the offseason. The Jimmies spent 11 days traveling in Europe in mid-July and spent a day working through a challenge course in Park Rapids, Minnesota. “I thought it was really a competitive advantage for me because you’re in a situation where you’re just glued together,” Jimmies freshman Ava Bertsch said.
“It’s a new situation. It was so fun. I mean it’s Europe, who gets to go to Europe on a sports team vacation.
I was so lucky to be a part of that and the fact that I could go with my family and coach let me be a part of the Jimmies, that was so fun. You’re in this la la land of wonderfulness because it’s Europe and beauty and you get to be with your best friends and your family truly so that was just so cool and such a great jump-start to sending me off to college for my parents as well.” ADVERTISEMENT Off the floor, the Jimmies will have plenty of time to become close friends this season with 16 of their 23 matches on the road.
“I think the only challenges will be we travel and then we come back for the night and then we leave again because the games are only two hours away,” Jimmies senior Aleah Zieske said. “So I think the challenges will be getting ahead on school and I think that’s about it, keeping up with our sleep and things like that.” This year the Jimmies have 10 upperclassmen who return from a team that went 25-11 last year.
“We have a veteran team and so we expect that we’re gonna be able to rely on that to gain some points during matches,” Jimmies head coach Jon Hegerle said. “I expect us to continue to play with the energy that we’ve had in the past and this team is really close, taking that trip to Europe and the time that we’ve spent together this spring has helped us grow that way and then we’re gonna have some new faces in there obviously because we graduated some pieces and just expecting our team to bring them into the fold and mentor that group.” Hegerle said the team started practice on Aug.
13. “It’s gone well. It’s a balance of training in a way that we can get better and get tougher but in the same token we’ve got some older players that their bodies are showing it and how do we give them the recovery and the rest and not do some unnecessary reps with some of them,” Hegerle said.
“It’s a whole juggling act and figuring out who is going to what reps and who do we need to say, ‘Hey this isn’t gonna help you right now, your body needs some rest, go ice.’” Two of the Jimmies statistical leaders from last season that do return are Zieske and Ellie Holen. The two combined for 489 kills, 129 assists, 61 aces and 1,247 digs.
Hegerle said it is important to have the two back because of their experience in big games. ADVERTISEMENT “We are definitely experienced and are stacked with a lot of seniors so pouring into the young ones and teaching them the way that we play volleyball and giving them the best experience they can get while they are here,” Zieske said. The Jimmies open their season at 1:30 p.
m. Friday, Aug. 30, when they take on Morningside University.
“They got a veteran group,” Hegerle said. “They’ve got some ball handlers, they’re just gamers, they’re just ballers and they have been playing for a couple years. They have a right side and an outside that get the majority of the sets.
They’re tough to stop. They’re a team that if they get going they can get under another team’s skin and watch out. .
.. They did that a little bit last year when we played them down at their place and we ended up winning in five but man it was a battle.
Once they dig in, they’re tough.” One challenge that the Jimmies will face in the first game is the Mustangs playing nine matches before the two teams face off. “I’m sure there’s gonna be some nerves from some new players on the team as we go out there but like I said we’ve got a veteran group,” Hegerle said.
“One advantage that we have is we’re able to see some film on Morningside and some of the teams that we’re playing down there and they don’t have any film on us because we haven’t played yet. They have no idea what to expect so we’re gonna hopefully try to come out in such a way that they’re not gonna be prepared but we’ll see.” In order to go on another deep run this season, Zieske said she and her teammates have to stay locked in through all sets.
Hegerle said Maddie Demars, Charlotte Lempka, Gracie Adamson and Ava Mueller are players who were on the junior varsity team last year who could make a difference this year. ADVERTISEMENT “Charlotte Lempka is doing great in the middle, she’s a different middle than we’ve had,” Hegerle said. “Her length and her size and her quick arm swing, she’s been very impressive.
Tenley Buddenhagen is one of our primary setters and she is playing at her highest level right now so that’s fun to see. Gracie Adamson ..
. she has a ton of energy and a great swing. Our players call her the strongest player on our team, she’s just explosive, so we’re looking forward to her getting after it as well.
” Bertsch said she will redshirt this year as she continues to recover from a torn ACL in November. Bertsch said playing with the Jimmies after her injury has helped renew her love for the sport. “I’m gonna be redshirting and practicing with JV which I’m excited about, just getting my leg back into it and my body back into the mechanics of playing volleyball,” Bertsch said.
“I took a year off with my injury so I’m excited to get developed with the JV team and hopefully represent the name well when we get up to varsity.” This year is the 50th season in Jimmies volleyball history after the program was founded in 1975. The University of Jamestown announced that on Oct.
18-19 the Jimmies will honor past volleyball alumni with events including an alumni match before the team’s match against Valley City State University on Oct. 19. “I think it’s awesome,” Zieske said.
“I think it’s a cool experience to be a part of too. I mean 50 years, that’s a long time, so to be here while that 50-year anniversary is happening I think is cool to see because everybody will be there who played in the past. So it will be cool to see all the older generations and just know that they played where I once was.
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