Raiders Led by New Coach in 2023
Following a long and successful tenure at Medicine Valley, Scott Johnsen announced he would be stepping away from coaching the Raiders on the football field. With Johnsen out, in steps Wyatt Heikkinen. Heikkinen is brand new to coaching and steps into a situation in which the Raiders went 0-8 last year.
But, the cupboard is far from bare, and the Raiders should be a solid team in 2023.
"We return all of our top production from last year only losing a few seniors. We have a big Junior class that is a year older and I expect to see a ton of growth from last year to this year. So far we have seen a good turnout at weights by the core individuals that we expect to be very productive. If we can have a strong finish to the summer I believe we could have a very strong comeback year this year and win some games to help instill some confidence back into this program."
One of the top players returning is Austin Roblee. Roblee as a junior had 327 yards rushing, 282 yards receiving, and nine total touchdowns last season. He will take on an even larger role in 2023. Also, the Raiders return their signal caller, Brody Senff. Senff will be a junior, and last year he threw for 422 yards and five scores. Also, he's a dual threat as he rushed for 284 yards as well.
Medicine Valley is in the D2-8 District with Bertrand, Dundy County Stratton, Hitchcock County, Loomis, and Maywood-Hayes Center. They will begin the season on August 25th versus Mullen on the road.
Raiders Look to Focus on Individual Success With a Small Group
The head coach for Medicine Valley, Kelli Wiiest, is going to have a small group this season but is hoping to work on achieving individual goals and success.
The top returning athletes for the Raiders are sophomore Kael Garrett, who is coming off of a 3rd place finish at the RPAC meet last season and was a state qualifier, and junior Kevin Bantam who finished 36th at the RPAC meet last year.
Raiders look to Fill Positions and Have a successful Fall
With winning seasons two of the last three years, the Medicine Valley volleyball team will try to build on that success this fall.
The Raiders will have to replace their most productive defensive player, Milla Farr, who graduated after leading the team in digs and blocks a year ago, but Coach Diana Klein's team returns plenty of size and firepower.
"We have a great group of girls returning that saw significant playing time last year," said Klein. "I am excited to see the growth in these girls."
The team returns three of its top four attackers from a season ago, including leading hitter, Stella Heapy who had 205 kills and a .150 hitting efficiency. Remmi Stout (129 kills) also returns as does Kylie Rose, the setter that paced last year's squad with 432 assists.
Filling some passing roles will be the Raiders' biggest challenge this summer and into the early season as Farr and fellow graduate Khloe Elsten were among the top five passers on last year's squad, but Klein said Kamree Elsten and Alaina Eberle will step into and pick up some of the slack.
The Raiders could help themselves by continuing to serve well. The team returns four of its top five servers from a squad that averaged better than two aces per set a year ago.
The RPAC will not get any easier, Klein said, with a half-dozen quality contenders for the league title, but the Raiders are looking forward to the challenge.
"The girls have been working hard this summer, preparing for camps and this season," Klein said. "We're counting down the days to August."