The Northmor Golden Knights were 10-4 in KMAC play behind Highland and Cardington-Lincoln and went 19-7 overall, and the volleyball squad looks to build off a season where it ended with three tournament wins before a tight five-set loss to Newark Catholic.
Coach Josh Lehman said that after a strong season, the Northmor volleyball team is counting on its experienced players to lead the team to another playoff run.
“Last season was a great year for us,” said Lehman, who is in his third season at Northmor and previously coached junior and club programs. “We had strong senior leadership and lots of talent on the team.”
Lehman grew up learning from his father, Ron Lehman, who was a coach for 45 years. Bob Price is another who he looked up to, who coached for four decades. He said they taught them much of what he knows and they have a similar coaching style.
“We run a 5-1, with a fast-paced offense more commonly seen in D1 schools,” Lehman said. “I base this on what winning programs are using, and the fact that we have the players to run it.”
The Lady Knights lost Reagan Swihart and Lexi Wenger, a pair who led the team in kills with 293 and 230 kills respectively, to graduation. This year, Northmor will rely on middle hitter Amanda Kincaid (third with 157 kills) and Chloe Keen (fourth with 148 kills) to lead as hitters providing power at the net. Swihart was the team leader in service aces with 57, and right behind her were returning players setter Lizzie Erlsten with 49 and Maddie Blunk with 34. Erlsten was KMAC All-Conference honorable mention.
Middle hitter Maggie Tuttle was the team’s top blocker with 68, and while she has graduated, Kincaid was right behind her with 65 blocks last season. Libero Emily Zeger had the second most digs last year with 235 and looks to lead the defense. Erlsten had 148 and Blunk had 144 digs.
“We are counting on everyone to step up and do their best for their teammates,” said Lehman. “One player in particular that really improved overall from last year is Chloey Keen. She is going to be a big part of our offense and defense this year. My expectation for the year is to challenge for a league title. Last year, it was a very close contest, and this year we want to win. We have made a few changes that we hope will help us to improve from last year, but the teams we are facing are great teams.”
