Wright City volleyball Head Coach Amy Geurin is entering her second season with the program with a bit of a different strategy, and she hopes last year’s experience will be a building block for future success for the Wildcats.

“Last year we focused solely on skills,” Geurin said Monday, “and this year I want to go more into game strategy and defense and offense, and all those different things.”

But first, Geurin wants to get a good read on her players.

“I really just want to see if a player is coachable,” she said. “If we see something and want them to do something else, if they’re willing to change it then that’s huge.”

The Wildcats lost Amy Janowski, Tesse Bragee, Anna Murri and Brittany Wade to graduation, but return seven juniors and seniors off last year’s team.

Senior DeAsha Briner is the leading returner in kills (64), aces (26) and digs (95).

Fellow senior Taylor Brewington returns after finishing with 38 kills and 48 digs a season ago.

“DeAsha and Taylor will really help us this year,” Geurin said. “DeAsha has a great swing and Taylor is really strong in the middle, so that’s very helpful.”

Geurin said she was going to spend the first few practices focusing on individual skills before preparing for a tough schedule.

The Wildcats host Battle Aug. 18, O’Fallon Christian Aug. 22 and head to Orchard Farm Aug. 23.

Other notable games include trips to Warrenton Sept. 11 and Father Tolton Catholic Oct. 3.

“We definitely will have our battles with bigger schools like Father Tolton and Battle, so my goal with those schools is to compete,” Geurin said. “They’re definitely going to have the advantage over us in height, but I think if we have to be scrappy and outplay them, that’s what we have to do.”