Sam Thiel/Winonan

The youngest team amongst the fall squads, the Winona State University volleyball team will begin its second season under head coach Joe Getzin with even higher expectations.

Coming off one of its best seasons in program history at 19-8 a year ago, the Warriors will look to capitalize on its recent success in 2015.

“It feels great to be able to have a full team back out on the court,” defensive specialist/libero Jamie Cairncross said. “It allows us to play versus each other and push each other more.”

The team highlights one upperclassman – Cairncross, a junior.

“I hope to use my past experiences, along with teammates experiences, to help our team stay on track to accomplish our goals,” Cairncross said.

And what Winona State lacks in upperclassmen they make up for in youth experience. A barrage of freshmen earned playing time on the court last season with AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year Danielle Rampart leading the way.

Five of the six Warriors that started last year were freshmen, including Rampart, Taylor Goar, Lauren Kudronowicz, McKenna Larsen and Kalyn Biever.

The team also welcomed the latest round of freshmen/transfer players with Maria Fruechte and Alex Duxbury leading the way. Fruechte is a redshirt sophomore who spent the last two seasons at the Division I level at Iowa State University. Duxbury is a sophomore who spent her freshmen year at Concordia-St. Paul.

“Practicing at the Division I level showed me how intense and competitive and how much extra work you have to do to become as great as you want to become,” Fruechte said. “And I think adding to that atmosphere here will be really awesome.”

Hailey Chittenden, Summer Larson, Jordan Runge, Sophie Wilker and Maria Wrage round out the roster as the incoming freshmen who are looking to contribute to the Warriors’ efforts.

“Pretty much everyone that played last year is returning, so even though we’re young we have a lot of experience on the court and that will be super helpful,” Fruechte added. “They’ve played against all the teams and know what to expect and know what we need to improve on to do even better this year. It will also give us a great chance to get better every year and set the atmosphere here and grow our program.”

The powerful offense of Winona State will make another appearance this season. Rampart recorded 4.12 kills per set average, good enough for second-best in the NSIC and 16th in Division II. Goar posted 294 kills while Larsen and Kudronwicz were right there as well with 165 and 159 kills, respectively.

Larsen will reprise her role as the starting setter after netting 10.44 assists-per-set average last season. Cairncross recorded a 4.52 digs-per-game average last year to pace the Warriors defensively.

“Our goal is championships,” Cairncross said. “Along with this we hope for another great season and putting more records up. We are all very excited for the season.”

The Warriors will begin the season on the road when it plays in the Concordia-St. Paul Tournament, starting with Central Washington on Sept. 4.