By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Appropriately, perhaps ironically, Bedford North Lawrence volleyball christened the freshly-refurbished floor in BNL Fieldhouse with the first footsteps on the sparkling hardwood. It’s a program with another new paint job, one that needs to take positive steps.
For the fourth time in eight years, the Stars have reset with a new head coach. Aaron Wagoner, with no previous varsity experience, takes over the reigns of a team that craves success, that requires stability and guidance. Starting over so many times is difficult, and the recent record (57-125 over the last seven years, 13-61 the last three) reflects the result of constant change.
Yet there is hope, gleaming like the final coat of varnish on the surface of the court. BNL returns four veterans, plus the addition to two transfers and an impact freshman, among its 11-player varsity roster. Perhaps this paint job will stick.
The late coaching switch – Wagoner was hired in June – put BNL behind in terms of offseason workouts and scrimmages. Wagoner smartly surrounded himself with a quality staff and went to work, with no excuses or glossed-over circumstances. He knows the landscape and the obstacles.
“It’s going to be challenging,” Wagoner said. “I’m hoping to learn a lot from my fellow coaches. I’m lucky to get the coaches I have to help me out. I hope to grow. We’ve set lofty goals, things that have not been done at this school. It will be extremely challenging to do that. But you set your goals really high and beat everyone along the way.”
Wagoner’s staff will include familiar names (former Bloomington South head coach Eugene Kim and new JV coach Lexi Stroud) and former college players (Molly Mungle and Anna Moster). Their first roster will include only one senior, so this is a rebuilding in almost every phase.
The leadership will have to come from those who have been around the most, and that includes a junior class with talent. Sammie Gratzer was last year’s leader in kills (355) and aces (43), Trinidy Bailey was the setter (724 assists), while Sara Williams and Suttyn Alvey played significant roles during the 8-22 campaign, which included the first postseason victory since 2017.
They will be joined by newcomers Jayden Allen (the only senior) and Jenna Allen, sisters who were starters at Mitchell. The younger Allen had 163 kills, the elder Allen totaled 295 digs for the Bluejackets. Add promising sophomore Zoey Shelton and freshman Isabella Root into the expected eight-player rotation, and that’s the foundation.
“We have a young class but really strong class,” Wagoner said. “And you can marry that with really good training. That’s a good recipe for winning. It’s changing a mindset, to push themselves in practice and the way we push them, with more technique and touches.”
The Stars are still learning on the fly, and will for some time. Change means adaptation.
“The girls are really behind where we could have been,” Wagoner said. “My guess is the first part of the season will be rough, because we’re pushing offenses and rotations they aren’t used to, types of hits they don’t really know.
“You’d like to see success in the form of wins, but you hope to see it in the form of progress, how they are playing. It is important to win some, to keep the spirits up. It might be a battle.”
The Stars will scrimmage at Linton on Aug. 15, then open the regular season with the BNL Invitational on Aug. 17.
