Consistency key for Bears volleyball season

Kim Bodoh has been preaching consistency this fall.

Bodoh, in her fourth year as head coach of the Bonduel volleyball team, says her team will need to play more consistently to offset the loss of hitters Taylor Weier and Hayley Pues to graduation.

“We need that consistency and that teamwork to be able to beat other teams, but I definitely think they have the potential to do that,” Bodoh said.

Weier, an outside hitter, and Pues, a middle hitter, will be replaced by shorter players, but Bodoh believes McKenzie Wollenberg (outside) and Emily Sorenson (middle) have made strides to help the Bears this fall.

“We have some girls coming in that can really bring some consistency to our game,” Bodoh said. “So I think that’s where we are going to fill in for those big power hitters.”

Sorenson, who played right side last season, is moving to the middle. Her sister, Hayley, is still recovering from an ACL injury this spring and will miss the volleyball season.

Emily Sorenson has made the transition to middle hitter almost seamlessly.

“She’s very athletic, and she has that jumping ability, but she stepped in like it wasn’t a big change to her at all,” Bodoh said. “I look for big things to come from her.”

Senior Kailee Pedersen will be a setter and right-side hitter for the Bears.

Bonduel lost setter Miranda Schmidt, so Pedersen is making the move from outside hitter to setter, but her hitting ability was too strong for Bodoh to take her swing out of the front row.

The other setter in Bodoh’s 6-2 system will be junior Brynn Reinke, who returns to distribute the ball for the varsity program this fall.

The loss of three starters isn’t fazing Pedersen, who noted the team is returning five major components of last year’s team.

“We’ve played together a long time, so our mental strength is going to be up there really high, and I think that’s the most important thing,” Pedersen said.

Pedersen is confident in the team’s ability to handle its business, which is why she sees the Bears, along with Wittenberg-Birnamwood and Shiocton, among the best in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 after finishing 13-12 and 3-4 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 last season.

“When we have the right mentality, we perform really well,” Pedersen said. “So I think it is possible to do a lot of things with this team.”