Bancroft-Rosalie hoping for successful season

Team: Bancroft-Rosalie

Mascot: Panthers

Colors: Blue and Silver

Class: D-2

Head Coach: Rebecca James (104-49 career record)

2014 record: 12-22

Returning Starters: 5


Overview:

The Bancroft-Rosalie Panthers are hoping to be more successful than they were last season when they went 12-22.

Bancroft-Rosalie returns five starters from last year's squad, including Vicki Gatzemeyer (5’6” OH 10), Tess Nottlemann ( 5’10” MH 11), Hannah Flock ( 5’9” MH 12), Ashten Reil (5’6” OH 12), and Kassidi Browning (5’6” S/RS 12).

The Panthers must make up for the loss of Jerrica Tietz, who led the team with 223 kills a season ago.

Helping Bancroft-Rosalie's cause will be newcomers Kylee Cole and Kelcee Bacon. 

Head Coach Rebecca James hopes her team's defense is improved. " I hope we are scrappier and quicker on defense this year by utilizing these two."

James says experience, playing as a team, and defense are Panther strengths. "Strengths for will be experience on the floor. We have girls that have played leading us. This group plays as a team – they work really hard together and play as a group. Also, I feel like our defense is going to be stronger this year. We have the ability to be scrappy."

Being quick and scrappy on defense should allow Bancroft-Rosalie to dig more balls and keep more plays alive.

I think the Panthers have a chance to be good this season.

James hopes her team gets better as the season goes along. "I’m not concerned so much with how we start as long as we improve throughout the year. I want us to be playing our best volleyball when November rolls around. We start out with Lutheran High Northeast and Wayne in our first tournament. Those games will be challenging for us but I’m excited to see where we are at as we begin the year."

Bancroft-Rosalie's experience and ability to work with one another should pay off down the stretch. I look for the Panthers to be ready to go from the get go.

I really think Bancroft-Rosalie has a chance to have more success than they did a season ago. Losing Tietz really hurts from an offensive standpoint, but it appears the Panthers will be stronger defensively.

Bancroft-Rosalie has to play smart volleyball throughout the season. The Panthers have to pass, hit, dig, serve receive, serve, and communicate well.

It's important for Bancroft-Rosalie to execute in all facets of the game every time out.

I look for the Panthers to win 20+ matches this season. I think Bancroft-Rosalie has a lot of potential.

Season Outlook:

The Bancroft-Rosalie Panthers have plenty of reason to be optimistic this season given the experience and talent they return from last year.

James says there are many variables to improving from a year ago. "We improve by working hard and being smart players. We improve by having a more competitive attitude. Also, we improve by having more experience on the floor and everyone knowing what their role is for our team."

Everyone has to be on the same page this season. Bancroft-Rosalie's players have to work as a team, which appears to be something they will be able to do pretty easily.

James feels teamwork will allow her squad to be better than they were a year ago. "I think we will be competitive in class D-2. We will be stronger than we were last season, and we will see a total team effort in each match. This group is cohesive and motivated to be the best we can be."

The Panthers really struggled at the beginning of the season last year, but I look for their veteran leadership and ability to work together to yield more wins in the early season this year.

Bancroft-Rosalie has a fairly challenging schedule as the Panthers will face teams like Oakland-Craig, Wakefield, Emerson-Hubbard, Howells-Dodge, Cedar Bluffs, and Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family.

And that list of teams doesn't include the various tournaments Bancroft-Rosalie is playing in this season.

The Panthers definitely have a chance to win more matches this season, but they have to take care of business against the teams they're supposed to beat, and step things up and win a few matches against some of the better teams.

I'm not expecting Bancroft-Rosalie to go out there and win 25+ matches, but as I said in the overview I feel something like 20 wins is within reach for this team.

As long as the Panthers continue to improve throughout the season and avoid the injury bug, they should put themselves in a good position to succeed come the postseason.

The postseason is when things really count so Bancroft-Rosalie has to treat every regular season match like it's sub districts.

The Panthers have to find that extra gear in every match, and will themselves to victory if at all possible.

Bancroft-Rosalie may struggle at times this season, but if they can remain resilient and persevere they should be able to rebound and remain competitive throughout the season.

I think the Panthers have a chance to do some nice things this year. It will be interesting to see how much this team can achieve.

2015 Bancroft-Rosalie Panthers Volleyball Schedule:

09/03-09/05	(To Be Determined)
09/08/15	Winside	D2
09/08/15	Walthill	D1
09/10/15	Oakland-Craig	C2
09/10/15	Oakland-Craig	C2
09/10/15	Scribner-Snyder	D2
09/12-09/12	(To Be Determined)
09/14/15	Emerson-Hubbard	D1
09/15/15	Wakefield	C2
09/15/15	Howells-Dodge	D1
09/22/15	@ Homer	C2
09/26-09/26	(To Be Determined)
09/29/15	Cedar Bluffs	D1
10/06/15	Clarkson/Leigh	C2
10/08/15	@ Lyons-Decatur Northeast	D1
10/12/15	@ Pender	D1
10/15-10/17	(To Be Determined)
10/20/15	Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family	C2
10/26/15	Omaha Nation	D1