Kandace Cook had some big shoes to fill when she took over as Calvary Lutheran's volleyball coach.
The Lady Lions, who went to the Final Four the year before Cook's arrival, went back to Cape Girardeau in her first season at the helm last fall, finishing in fourth place in Class 1.
"The biggest thing I got out of it was the environment of Calvary," Cook said as she readies for her second season when Calvary Lutheran travels tonight to New Haven. "The girls are very close with each other, and I think that was something I gained from them.
"I love that feeling of family, and at a smaller school, it's much easier to do that."
Calvary Lutheran finished 2019 with a 23-9-4 record.
"People were underestimating us right off the bat, that we weren't going to get back there," Cook said.
Year 2 will have a much different feeling, as the Lady Lions graduated six seniors from their Final Four team and will dress only 11 players this fall.
As a result, Calvary Lutheran will not be able to field a JV team and will play varsity-only matches in 2020.
"It has been a lot of younger kids who haven't played volleyball before, so we're definitely on that learning curve of trying to have our older girls, that went to state with us that are still left, to be leaders and show these girls the ropes," Cook said.
Among the returners from last year's varsity squad are senior Hannah Scheperle, junior Abby Fisher and sophomore Elizabeth Lieb.
Scheperle would normally be the team's libero and a defensive specialist, but she will start the season as an outside hitter. Fisher will be another outside hitter, and played on the right side last season. Lieb, a middle hitter, leads all returners with 59 kills last season.
"I've seen a lot of patience with them, knowing they're trying to build this team back up," Cook said. "We weren't even sure if we were going to have enough girls for this season."
Also on the front line this season will be sophomore Natalie Sommerer at outside hitter and senior Izzy Chilambo at middle hitter. Sophomore Hailey Johnson will be a right-side hitter.
Freshman Anna Black and junior Macie Goetz will be defensive specialists, and freshman Abby Gonzalez will be a serving specialist.
"They're trying to get up to that level, and it's a journey in itself to get them to that level," Cook said of the varsity newcomers. "But they're working really hard to try and compete with these girls and make a difference for the team."
Calvary Lutheran will switch to a 6-2 offense this season. Freshman Mikayla Yutzy will be one of the setters, along with Lieb. Julia Kollmeyer was Calvary Lutheran's setter in last year's 5-1 offense, but she transferred to Capital City this year.
Senior Mikayla Reimann, who is the team manager, has been added to the roster and will round out the Lady Lions' group of 11 players.
Calvary Lutheran will play four matches during its first two weeks of the season. The Lady Lions won't play at home until Sept. 10 against La Monte.
"I'm looking to see who's going to step up and be a leader on the court," Cook said. "I see some of it at practice, and I really want to see who's going to say, 'We've got to put this ball away, and I'm going to be the one to do it.'"
One change to Calvary Lutheran's schedule is scratching the Dig for Life Tournament in Cape Girardeau. Cook said it was dropped from the schedule because of COIVD-19 concerns.
"We didn't want to chance our school with going to that," she said.
Past success will affect Calvary Lutheran's classification this season. With back-to-back Final Four appearances, the Lady Lions have a "championship factor" of 1 and will bump up one class this fall, likely to Class 2, when district assignments are announced next month.
"It's going to be an eye-opener, because these schools will have way more kids than we have to bring into their program," Cook said. "It'll be different, but I think the 'different' is going to be the best thing for our girls."