By Cade Kennedy, Sports Editor
After going through an offseason full of changes, the season is almost here for the Northwestern volleyball team.
The main change for the Lady Rangers comes from the sideline, as Jon Bingesser took the position of head coach in April.
Bingesser was previously the head coach at Highland Community College in Highland, Kansas. In his seven years there, Bingesser composed a record of 165-59, as well as a conference record of 41-16.
While the regular season is just around the corner, the Lady Rangers have already made their return to the court in the form of a scrimmage played in Weatherford on Aug. 16.
The Lady Rangers played West Texas A&M, Amarillo College, Southern Nazarene and Southwestern. After coaching those four games, coach Bingesser said that he liked what he saw.
“I thought that the way we utilized the scrimmage was exactly what a scrimmage is intended to be,” Bingesser said. “We were able to run a couple of different lineups, play around with rotations, also play around with people in certain positions, and it gave me a chance to see the diversity of our athletes and a chance to see who can perform in what spot.”
The Lady Rangers had several players that played well in the scrimmages, as Bingesser was positive about the performance of several players.
“I really do like Tarra Parks and what she’s done so far,” Bingesser said. “Addison Wimmer looked great, and we were able to get her going. I loved how Courtney Russell played. I thought that she did a really good job. Another girl that really stood out to me at the scrimmage was Carmae Jones. She was probably the leading kill scorer that day.”
While the Lady Rangers had success in the scrimmage, that did not translate to a higher result in the Great American Conference preseason poll.
The Lady Rangers placed ninth out of 12 teams, mirroring their placement at the end of last season. Despite the low placement, they believe that they can finish better than ninth.
“We all looked at it, and we know that with rankings, sometimes they mean nothing, but they do mean something mentally,” Bingesser said. “I told the girls that they just put us there because that’s what we got last year and they don’t know us from anybody, so this is what we need to look at, as they don’t know what we’re going to do or who we are yet, and we need to use that to push us forward. I definitely think that we are a better team than ninth, and I think the girls feel that as well.”
The regular season begins on Aug. 26 in Joplin, Missouri, for a tournament with the first game against William Jewell starting at 1 p.m.
The Lady Rangers make their home debut Sept. 13, when they play Southern Nazarene at 7 p.m