Loggers' volleyball looking to rebuild

The Libby Loggers volleyball team lost seven seniors from last year’s team and will be looking to reload in 2015 with an inexperienced squad.

“We finished with a 12-5 record last year, Cindy Ostrem-Johnston, the Loggers coach said. “But, we don’t’ have any returning starters and we lost seven seniors. The seniors on the team this year got limited playing time. They got playing time, but they were never in the regular rotation. We are going to be very young and inexperienced this year.”

This is Ostem-Johnston’s 23rd year as head coach and she said she sees a lot of potential with this group.

“There is a lot of potential on this team,” she said. “They just need the reps to get that experience. We need to coach them up. I’m telling them not to get frustrated right now. We are throwing things at them pretty fast right now. We will back it up once we get through the tryout session and break these skills down.”

Ostrem-Johnston said that if each player plays to their ability the Loggers will notice it in the win column.

“If every player reaches their potential it will be a successful season,” she said. “If we have fun and work hard in practice the wins will come. It’s all about working hard in practice, getting better and gaining confidence. If those things happen the wins will happen. Our focus is to get better game-to-game and week-to-week. I want to see where were at now and hopefully we will be a better team at the end of the season.”

Ostrem-Johnston said that the team enjoyed a successful summer of camps and workouts.

“We had a camp here and a lot of our girls participated,” she said. “Debbie Buchanan the coach of University of Idaho, a Division I head coach comes here and puts on a three-day camp. My assistants also open up the gym during the week in the summer and we had quite a few girls in there for that.”

Ostrem-Johnston said that she’s been impressed with the work the freshmen have done this summer.

“We got a good group of freshman girls that have been very dedicated to working hard this summer,” she said. “The future is bright with them if they continue to work hard.”

The Loggers will start the season with a one-day tournament in St. Ignatius, Saturday, August 29.

“We just started practicing and I like what I’ve seen,” she said. “The kids are practicing with great energy. They all have a great attitude. They are working hard and they are coachable. We are excited to get the season started.”