Volleyball: Patriots ‘hungry’ for 2024 season to start

BISMARCK,N.D. — The Century Patriots are coming off back to back WDA Championships. After losing a key core from last year, this season’s group of seven seniors is stepping up as leaders.

“We had a great year last year, a great group of senior leadership that is spilling into this year,” head coach Jamie Zastoupil says. “That’s been a topic of conversation a little bit with our seniors this year is how those seniors last year treated them, how they made them feel, what it felt like on the court. So, kind of bringing that into this year.”

“There’s a lot of us,” senior Addy Klemin adds. “There’s seven, so it’s been really fun seeing how everyone has their own unique leadership perspective, and we each kind of take a part of the team and doing a really good job with that role.”

A key for the leadership from this senior core is the the Patriots yearly leadership book study, which is used to establish a strong team chemistry and to motivate players.

“I think just like being one and knowing that anyone can step up at any point in time and that it is huge,” senior Maddie Wolf says. “If someone really steps up and takes that because it brings some type of calmness and really just kind of chills the team out a little bit if we’re nervous or anything. So, I feel like someone stepping up really brings a lot to the team and will help us get really far.”

“It’s something that the kids really look forward to being able to do, whether they’re juniors or seniors,” Zastoupil adds. “It’s something that gets them really excited. We just want to build our culture outside of the gym, inside of the gym, carry it out over in the hallways, outside the building and it’s something that kids take a lot of ownership in. I also know, specifically with this group of seniors, they’re really excited about it and they’ve really bought in early.”

This year’s squad features a lot of new faces to the varsity level, but after years of waiting, these athletes are ready for their time to shine.

“This is a group that’s played together a lot and they’ve kind of waited to their turns being on the JV team for a couple of years,” Zastoupil says. “And now they’re having their time as seniors on that varsity floor or as juniors on that varsity floor. So, I think just putting in the time and it makes them excited and I think they can feel the energy that they’re bringing together and that makes them even more hungry. They want to do this together as a team.”

“I think everyone that’s coming up from that JV team last year is super excited,” Wolf adds. “Everyone really buys into this team and I think that’s a strong suit of ours because everyone’s just really excited and wants to go far this year. So, everyone’s super hungry and has that strive to do well.”

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