A total of 19 high schoolers are playing volleyball at Woodland High School this fall. This includes nine girls on varsity and 10 who will see time in junior varsity matches.

Emily Johnson returns as the varsity head coach.

The varsity squad begins the season Tuesday, Sept. 3, in its home gym. The Cardinals are seeded fifth in their own tournament and will face No. 4 Meadow Heights in one of the four quarterfinal matches. A win in the opening match and Woodland will advance to a semifinal contest against either Leopold or Zalma.

“We are expecting some great leadership from our seniors this year,” Johnson said. “We have two sophomores on varsity that are starters and two freshmen playing up. We are young, but I feel like we have a lot of athleticism. The girls are working hard in practice. They have great attitudes. Our motivational (phrase) this year is all in, are goal is to give 110% every time we show up on the court, practice or games, and finish with that frame of mind.”

In the 2023 Woodland Invite, the host Cardinals were seeded seventh and placed third.

“Our goal is to finish higher than we seeded (but just take it) one game at a time,” Johnson said.

The roster includes seniors Carrie Long, Sara Koenig, Mallary Barks and Lyla Wiseman; junior Cadence Merrell; sophomores Makayla Altenthal, Addyson Massa; and freshmen Dezirae Braswell and Ella Cook.

Returning starters include Barks, Wiseman, Altenthal and Massa. Long plays libero while seniors Koenig (outside hitter), Merrell (defensive specialist, outside hitter), Barks (outside hitter, defensive specialist) and Wiseman (middle hitter) will help bolster the nine-person varsity lineup.

Johnson, in her third year as varsity head coach, is assisted this year by Rebecca Page

Rather than focus on obtaining a lofty record, Johnson said she would prefer the squad seek improvement as the season progresses.

Besides next week’s home tournament, set for Sept. 3-6, additional home matches this season are:

• Sept. 10 vs. Puxico;

• Sept. 10 vs. Saxony;

• Sept. 23 vs. Dexter;

• Sept. 26 vs. Meadow Heights;

• Sept. 27 vs. Bernie;

• Oct. 7 St. Vincent; and,

• Oct. 8 at Leopold.

Home matches start at 5:30 p.m. with junior varsity competition.

Junior varsity players are sophomores Raimee Hastings, Danica Melendy and Mollie Long; freshmen include Azriel Nance, Cassi Miller, Macy Lindley, Natalie Rudisill, Abbigail Howard, Ashlynn Springer and Isabella Atchison.