Crawfordsville Volleyball is coming off it’s best season in recent memory after the Athenians posted a 24-7 record in 2021. That CHS team had the leadership of five seniors and featured the likes of setter Laine Schlicher, Shea Williamson, libero Olivia Reed, Alyx Bannon, and Liddy McCarty.
While the Athenians do graduate a ton of talent from last year’s squad, they do bring back plenty of that same talent. Senior Macy Bruton, who was fourth in the entire state last season with 562 kills, will lead the way for CHS. Along with Bruton, the Athenians will feature five other seniors in Hallie Gayler, Halle Elliot, Brooklyn Mills, Elyse Widmer, and Jessica Tribble.
Longtime CHS coach Kelly Johnson still has the vision in mind for success for her squad in 2022.
“I think these girls will step right in and be capable of having a season similar or even better than last year,” she said. “You obviously don’t know until the season gets here but these girls have been working hard in the gym and preparing and I feel really good about the core of athletes that we got.”
While the attention will draw towards Bruton as it did last year, it’s still about the team success for Johnson. Bruton who comes in with 1,516 career kills needs 484 to reach the illustrious 2,000 mark.
“Macy’s just has a ton of potential and everyone already knows that about her,” Johnson said of Bruton. “She had a fantastic club season that was ranked No. 1 in the state for a period of time. She does want to do the best she can not just for her benefit but for the team as a whole.”
Along with the six seniors the Athenians will also have the likes of juniors Devan Johnson, Samantha Rohr and Kaydence Brost.
After falling to West Lafayette in the sectional championship game a season ago, the Athenians want to come out and prove that they can capture that elusive sectional title. This season with the realignment the sectional will mainly be a Sagamore Conference sectional that features the likes of Western Boone, Danville, Lebanon, Tri-West, and Monrovia.
“That’s always the goal for us and it’ll be a tough one,” Johnson said. “We can’t worry about that yet and just have to take it one match at a time and try to get better every time out.”
The Athenians open up their 2022 season on Monday with a home contest against Sheridan.
