Volleyball team Shanley Deacons ‘all-in’ with strong start to 2024 season – InForum

FARGO — “Teamness” may have to be the next word added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

At least, for the Fargo Shanley volleyball team.

It’s a non-word first-year Deacons head coach Taylor Preston has instilled in the program, preaching the idea that togetherness brings success.

“I’ll say it again and again,” Preston said. “Teamness, positivity and belief in each other. It is inevitable that we will lose sets and games. It’s going to happen. How do you emerge into the next one? And coming back to teamness, it (means) staying together. You are the ones on the field, you are the ones fighting for each other.

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After a second-place finish at last season’s Class A state tournament, Shanley has used both his returning experience and some new faces to race to a 15-1 start to the 2024 season.

The Deacons are the No. 2 team in Class A. The only loss to date comes on September 16 to Moorhead, leaving them undefeated in North Dakota competition and atop the Eastern Dakota Conference with an 11-0 lead in the competition.

That No. 2 ranking will likely change when the next media poll is released on Oct. 8, after the Deacons beat top-ranked West Fargo Sheyenne on Sept. 26 in a state title rematch.

“Our motto this year as a team is ‘All In,’” said Shanley senior outside/right-side hitter Katelyn Ommen. “And I think we have done a good job so far this season by giving everything we have in every training and every game. I just think if we continue that through the rest of the season, we’ll be in a good position for EDC and the state.”

Ommen is Shanley’s kills leader this season with 141 as of Oct. 1 and is also one of three all-conference seniors returning to the Deacons’ rotation this season. The others include setter Ella Stimpson and outside hitter Clara Robin, while defensive specialist Sela Roshau also returns to the senior group.

“It’s really cool for us to finally become the older girls of the group,” said Ommen. “Most of us have been in the program for three or four years, so it was cool to see the seniors step up for us and just become one this year.”

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These seniors have mentored varsity newcomers Kinsley Julik, Taya Ressler, Anna Strand, Hailey Miranda and Addie Bogenreif, as well as returnees Brooklyn Bogenreif, Megan Dietz and Carly Hulstein.

Now a junior, Hulstein leads the Deacons in the blocks department with 28 as of Oct. 1. The middle blocker himself is emerging as the leader and has racked up 110 kills.

“I think it was more of a mental thing,” Hulstein said. “Last year I was on the younger side, but this year I was one of the leaders on the team. It’s about just going a step further this year and filling some of those spots.”

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Preston said the leadership of her senior class has been critical to the team’s hot start this season.

“They go hard every day,” Preston said. “They bring those intangibles and experience and they are solid and grounded. They’ve felt the pressure before and they’ve also felt a loss (state championship) that stays with you for a long time. I think this is another reminder that we’re not done until the season is over.”

Younger players like Strand, a sophomore, and Brooklyn Bogenreif, a freshman, have also made strides.

“(Strand) stepped up as a sophomore,” Preston said. “Going from last year as a C-team (player) to the varsity. She worked hard in the offseason and was definitely one to watch last year. You can tell when a player is going to make progress and she has impressed us this summer and earned her place.

“Brooklyn stepped into her role as libero this year, filling a position that was new to her. She brings a competitive edge to the field and has really embraced that. Her buy-in from the start was top class.”

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Brooklyn Bogenreif leads the team this season with 177 as of Oct. 1, while she and Robin have each recorded 19 aces. Stimpson has followed Shanley with 431 assists.

Energy that radiates up and down the deacon’s bench is important for the team and coach.

“You play better when you’re having fun,” Preston said. “You can play loose when you’re having fun and that’s my coaching philosophy. I’m a crazy person, I have a lot of energy and that’s how I played. So bring that into my coaching… the gym is energetic and we have fun. We definitely bring the energy.”

That energy doesn’t just come from the six in the rotation either. Contributions come from all twelve players on the roster.

“Not just the girls on the field, but our reserves on the bench,” Preston said. “Great, and kudos to them for showing up for their team. They go the extra mile every game, even when they don’t see the field, and that’s really impressive.”

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Preston was an assistant on the Deacons’ staff last season before taking over from former coach Alexis Bachmeier, who resigned at the end of 2023.

“We all love her,” Hulstein said of her new coach. “She’s just a great person to have in the gym. She always brings the energy and is always everyone’s biggest cheerleader. We are all very happy that she decided to come back.”

Being a familiar face to players has made buy-in easy.

“She was very positive and uplifting,” Ommen said. “It was really nice to have her there.”

With just over a month left in the regular season, Preston and company are emphasizing a game-by-game mentality.

“All teams are very good and very equal this year,” said Ommen. “We worked hard in training to prepare and we took it game by game. The past few weeks have been full of tough matches from the likes of (Fargo) Davies and (West Fargo) Sheyenne. But it’s been good for us to play some stronger teams and figure out a way to execute.”

“Just stay focused and keep doing what we’ve been doing all season,” Hulstein added. “Because it works.”

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While it is important to demand “all in” and “teamness” from the players, it is equally important that the Deacons coaching staff do the same.

“You spend a lot of time with these kids, so you have to love them, and I do,” Preston said. “Across the board, when you have a good coaching staff that believes in the kids and is positive, it’s hard not to have buy-in.

“It’s also communication with the girls. You can say all the things in the world, but communication only goes so far. When you have a relationship you can say something and it means a lot more when you have a relationship with the kids.”

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David Samson/The Forum

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