The Warrenton girls’ volleyball team is trying hard to earn an ‘A.C.E.’ before a single ball is served to begin the 2026 season.
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The Warrenton girls’ volleyball team is trying hard to earn an ‘A.C.E.’ before a single ball is served to begin the 2026 season.
According to senior Grace Ruediger, the Warriors' mental approach, coming off a 2025 season in which the team went 10-20-2, will be vital to the team’s success this year.
“A.C.E. stands for Attitude, Communication and Effort,” Ruediger said. “Attitude has a lot to do with it (being a good teammate). Communication goes a lot of ways. It’s about talking on the court, being positive and (showing good) body language. Effort is another important one. What you can give might not be 100 percent every day, but giving all that you can is so important.”
Ruediger is one of four starters returning from last season and, as Coach Kayla Nelson sees it, her efforts, coupled with juniors Emma Eskew and Emma Klaus and sophomore Maya Bayes, will provide a strong core for the team to build around.
Last season, Ruediger’s 86 assists, Klaus’ 64 kills, Bayes’ 58 digs and Klaus’ 19 blocks put them among team leaders in the categories.
“They all played quite a bit,” Nelson said. “Except Emma (Eskew) because she had a broken wrist. The others got a lot of time and a lot of experience, which can only help us.”
For her part, the positive vibes run deeper than just the returning starters, Nelson said.
She said each member of the program has bought into what everyone’s trying to accomplish, beginning at the Hillsboro Tournament on August 29.
“I’ve got an ambitious group of girls who trust each other,” Nelson said. “They genuinely want to be out there, on the floor, next to each other.”
Senior Adeline Klaus agreed with her coach about the bond the team already shares.
She added that this connection will go a long way toward helping the team succeed and scoring that A.C.E.
“Everyone has jobs to do and roles to play,” Klaus said. “We want to keep achieving our goals. As each season has progressed in the last few years, we’ve (raised the win total). That is a goal we’ve got for this year. We want to keep progressing, and getting more wins than last year would be part of that. We want to keep playing hard and keep improving and if we do that, I think we can get more wins.”
Nelson said that she feels a healthy mental approach will be a key for the team this season.
“A healthy self-esteem is going to be really important for the girls,” Nelson said. “We’re often our own harshest critics. Taking all the positive feedback you’re getting from your teammates is important. We’re going to have to step outside our little negatives and work hard as a team to do our best this season.”
A big part of working together will come on the defensive end of the floor.
Senior Esme’ Heitgerd said she’s excited to see just what a solid cohesive defensive effort can do for the Warriors this season.
“It’s going to take a lot of practice and a lot of hard work from everyone,” Heitgerd said. “I think defense is going to be important for us. Making a great defensive play makes everyone on the floor happy and it makes them work harder. I think that’s going to be important for us."
