Coming into the season, Warrenton High School volleyball coach Randy Kindschuh expected that his team would have a good season, with all of his starters returning among a good mix that includes six seniors, four juniors, and two sophomores.

He was right.

Entering this week, the Warriors have won 13 straight matches and are now 15-5 on the year after defeating St. Charles West Friday night, rallying to win the last three sets after dropping the first two.

“Our passing and serving were not very crisp and our floor defense was non-existent the first two sets, but we kept our confidence and went at them one game at a time to win the match. Everyone came up with crucial plays to push us to the win,” said Kindschuh. “Outside hitters Morgan Frye, 25 kills off of 53 swings and three huge blocks, and Josey Schipper, 19 kills off of 35 swings, led the way offensively.”

The win over St. Charles West comes after the team had a two-week layoff due to COVID restrictions, but the Warriors coach is hopeful that they can now move forward with no additional issues.

“We had made it through the first half of our conference schedule unscathed and hopefully things will fall into place where we can do the same the second half of the season,” said Kindschuh. “You could tell we had just had a two-week layoff (against St. Charles West).”

Meanwhile, the Warriors are getting outstanding performances all over the court. Kindschuh has dubbed one of his top hitters, senior Morgan Frye as a “do everything” player and junior Josey Schipper as “electric.”

“Morgan currently has 201 kills and is hitting a blazing .433 (this would be a similar average that baseball players use) and Josey has 139 kills and is hitting .306 along with 26 ace serves,” he said. “We also have a great libero, Alyssa Bruce, who is passing at a record pace. She is passing at 2.32 (on a 3 point scale), has 22 aces and 44 set assists.”

Senior Allie Gerard and Junior Abby Hammerberg, who both have over 200 set assists, are a big part the Warriors offense that places an emphasis on serves — illustrated by Hammerberg’s team-leading 36 aces. “I have a philosophy that you have to be able to pass well and attack with your serve,” said Kindschuh. “So we put a lot of emphasis on our serve.”

Other notable performances are coming from the team two right-side hitters, Senior Ashley Pullen (22 kills) and Junior Ella Smith (41 kills), while the team has three senior middle blocker/hitters — Jazzy McCuskey (43 kills and 10 blocks), Kassidy Haller (29 kills and nine blocks), and Faith Wenzel (16 kills and two blocks). Kindschuh added that Alyssa Bruce, the team’s libero, is passing at a record pace.

“She’s passing at 2.32 on a 3 point scale, has 22 aces and 44 set assists,” he said. “She has been great.”

The Warriors, who will host Districts on October 27 and 29, came into the season seeking a district and conference championship. The team currently sits atop the conference and are seeking its third conference title since 1978. They last won the conference in 2018.

“Our girls take a lot of pride in our team,” said Kindschuh.” They’ve done an outstanding job carrying the name of Warrior Volleyball.”

The Warriors were scheduled to play on Monday night against Mexico, and are scheduled to host Orchard Farm on Thursday, October 15.