Jackson County Central will open its volleyball season Saturday as the final match of the day at the Big South Conference Showcase at St. James, taking on the host Saints in a match scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
"Things are going really well," said JCC coach Deidre Wierson at the end of the second week of practice. "Our team unity and chemistry is really meshing and the girls are working hard and responding to everything as the coaches are going through drills and we had a good preseason scrimmage so I feel like things are looking pretty bright for us."
The Huskies have 10 players returning from last year's team that had a 7-4 record in a Covid-condensed season.
Four of the returnees are seniors, OH Sadie Voss, who is a University of Sioux Falls commit; RS Georgianna Wenzel; OH and DS Taylor Post; and DS Sydney Osterberg.
Juniors are MH Peyton Hanson, DS Erin Gallagher, DS-L Alexis O'Reilly, OH-RS Andria Benson, OH Sarah Anderson and MH-RS Brittany Arduser.
The Huskies also have three sophomores seeing a lot of playing time, MH Emma Haren, S Maci Farmer and S-DS Elese Paplow.
JCC did host a scrimmage last Saturday, but Wierson is excited to have the team's first match.
"St. James has been known to be a scrappy team," Wierson said about the Saints. "They'll throw some different out of system plays at us, so that will be a challenge for us."
The Huskies have their first home match Tuesday vs. Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda and then have another nonconference match at Spirit Lake Thursday. The Big South Conference West Division opener is Tuesday, Sept. 7 at Redwood Valley.
The complete schedule:
Sat., Aug. 28 - at St. James Area, 7 p.m.
Tues., Aug. 31 - Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda, 7:15 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 2 - at Spirit Lake, 7:15 p.m.
Tues., Sept. 7 - at Redwood Valley, 7:15 p.m.
Tues., Sept. 14 - Marshall, 7:15 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 16 - Sioux Falls Christian, 7:15 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 18 - Carolyn Hummel Invitational, 9 a.m.
Tues., Sept. 21 - at Windom, 7:15 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 23 - at New Ulm, 7:30 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 24 - at Class AA Showcase, Burnsville
Sat., Sept. 25 - at Class AA Showcase, Burnsville
Thurs., Sept. 30 - Pipestone, 7:15 p.m.
Mon., Oct. 4 - St. James Area, 7 p.m.
Tues., Oct. 5 - Luverne, 7:15 p.m.
Mon., Oct. 11 - at Martin County West, 7:15 p.m.
Tues., Oct. 12 - at Worthington, 7:15 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 15 - at Todd Bachman Invitational, Lakeville North
Sat., Oct. 16 - at Todd Bachman Invitational, Lakeville North
Mon., Oct. 18 - Fairmont, 7:15 p.m.
Postseason
High school volleyball has expanded to a four-class system. JCC is in Class 2A and will compete in Section 3AA.
The state tournament is scheduled for Nov. 11-13 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Section 3AA teams
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City
Eden Valley-Watkins
Fairmont
Jackson County Central
Litchfield
Luverne
Minnewaska Area
Montevideo
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta
New London-Spicer
Paynesville
Pipestone
Redwood Valley
State ratings
The Huskies were fifth in the preseason poll conducted by the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association.
The complete Class 2A Top 10:
Southwest Christian
Watertown-Mayer
Maple Lake
Cannon Falls
Jackson County Central
Concordia Academy
Waterville-Elysian-Morristown
Pequot Lakes
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
Annandale