Warriors feature strong core

Mercy High School has five returning volleyball players from last year's squad that reached the Division VI semifinals.

Head Coach Zane Zelei is excited to have a strong core of experienced girls, four of whom are seniors who have played all four years. Camille Crowley, Alex McFadyen, Giselle Espinoza, Diana Van Ert and Kayleigh Mincer are all returning seniors.

Crowley is the only one of that group to have played three years, rather than all four, but joins junior Maggie Keller as a team captain. Crowley is slated to play middle and Keller will split time at setter with Jennifer Gentry.

Keller was also a leading hitter on JV the last two seasons and will slam the ball herself in 6-2 formations when she isn't setting.

McFadyen and Van Ert will rotate in the front row between middle and outside, forming a formidable offensive trio with Crowley also at the net. Espinoza and Mincer will also play outside and Espinoza will double as a defensive player in the back row.

Senior Jackie Cendejas is playing volleyball for the first time and will add depth to the outside hitter positions along with junior Emyleigh Nelson, a three-year player.

The Lady Warriors opened their season at a jamboree at Shasta High School recently and played teams from their Tri-Cities League all the way up to Division I.

"We started slow and played some teams in much higher divisions, but as the day progressed so did the team," Zelei said. "The team spirit seems to be high even with the losses we had. This is a group of girls that makes it worth returning to coach again and again."

Mercy earned a co-title in the TCL last season with Redding Christian, and won playoff games against Dunsmuir and Chester before bowing out to Fall River in the semifinals. In the end, the Lady Warriors were 14-15-1 (4-2 TCL).

Contact Paul Gadbois at 824-1036.