FARMINGTON, Minn. -- Farmington volleyball has a wealth of experience on the court, a tremendous amount of height, but also a rugged schedule to deal with nightly.

Senior captain Sabrina Caven is ready for the grind to begin, "I feel we're going to be really good this year. This year is probably going to be our best year with all the talent that we have."

The preseason poll shows four of the top five teams in the state are from the South Suburban Conference. Defending state champ Lakeville South is No. 1 followed by Lakeville North (No. 2), Eagan (No. 4), and Prior Lake (No. 5). Additionally, Apple Valley was a state tournament team last season and returns most of their lineup. 

Coach Mike Woody contends, "We're not hoping to compete with them anymore, we expect to compete with them. Kind of a different mindset in the gym of, 'Oh. I hope this is going to be good.' Everybody is really excited to go into battle."

In her fourth year on the varsity, Caven says, "We are excited because, honestly, all those teams are really talented. Obviously, it's a challenge to play against them. I feel like this year we can knock out a bunch of them."

She sources her optimism, "We have a good back row with Lexi (West) as our libero. She's been our libero for four years. So, that's good. Our hitters, we have a bunch of tall people. We have a good block. We have a bunch of good hitters."

Three of the five captains are juniors. Caven says, "I'm really honored to be a captain. I'm excited to take that lead on the team with all the girls."

Woody starts this fall with "high expectations. We're really excited about who we've got coming back. There's some pieces that we lost from last year we're figuring out.

"We've got a great corps of captains that represent most positions. We look at the returners Braelyn Hendrickson middle, Adi Otto on the right side, Sab (Caven) on the outside, Lexi as libero."

Some newcomers will "plug the holes. So far, they've been stepping in like they've been there for years."

The team graduated defensive specialist Mya Sharp and outside hitter/setter Jada Henrikson among five seniors from the 2024 team. The Tigers went 15-14 last season and fell to Lakeville South in the Section 1AAAA semifinals.

West, a senior, says there's great cohesion, "We all work really well together…Over the years we've grown together. We've gotten a lot of chemistry and learned the way each other works. We have a pretty good dynamic with us.

"As long as we stay calm, even like the bigger teams when things can get stressful, I think if you stay calm, especially in serve receive, and we get the ball up, we have good hitters outside, middle, right side. We'll be good," West believes.

Woody says, "We are going to be big at the net. We should be giving teams issues, whether we're blocking or the block is forcing other teams to give us easier balls. Defense is going to huge and then to turn around and turn that into offense with a big front line."

Hendrickson, in her third year on varsity, "I think we're very versatile through all of the sides. Each position has different skills and shots. We can bring them all together. A lot of teams won't be able to expect what we're doing. That's a big key. Not just hitting the regular shots. Everyone bringing their different shots together."

Defensively, "We have a really big block pretty much all of the time. We work a lot with our blocks in practice."

Hendrickson appreciates being a captain, "I like being able to see the younger girls. See them looking up to us. And I like going into the freshman gym and seeing how much fun they're having and how young they are, and wishing I could go back, starting over again. It was just a lot of fun."

Junior captain Taylor Hagedorn is a middle blocker and played all around last year. "This year we plan to get our middles in a little bit more and our block. We want to close our block a lot. Just so that the hitters on the side can't get around us and it helps our defense out too."

Also, a fourth-year varsity player, Hagedorn says communication during play is essential and staying sharp between matches, "Keeping high competition at practice helps for game-like situations. Just really want to stay focused and determined."

Junior right side hitter Adi Otto looks to a balanced offensive attack, "I'm just excited to get back on the court with the girls. We spend a lot of time away from each other with club. So, it'll be fun being all together again.

"We have really big hitters and have really strong blockers. So, I think that'll be a big key part of the season for defending some of the bigger teams with big hitters. We can put up a good block against."

After battling through some injuries, she got in a full season as a sophomore, "That was the first season where I was fully healthy…Working off the court has been really important for me. I do a lot of physical therapy."

Junior Kayley Schuenemann is back as setter says Woody, "Stepped up and was starting for us last year and did a great job. We'll have (senior) Lila Johannsen and (junior) Addi Gibart going back and forth."

Hendrickson says it's essential to focus on yourself, "I really don't think about the other teams. I try to think about each other and playing with each other and just pretend it's a practice. Thinking so much about the other teams is not going to help us. They're going to have good kills, and we just have to be able to get back and bounce back from that."

Caven states, "Every team is the best team that you're going to see, and you have to give it your all."

West speaks for the seniors on their final season, "It's kind of sad but happy. I'm excited to be here but it's sad that it's our last time."

Schedule

The Tigers open the season with AAA powerhouse Northfield on Thursday, August 21 at the Tiger gym at 7 pm. Section 1AAAA rival Rochester Century comes to Farmington on Monday, August 25 for a 7 pm match.

Non-conference play continues with road matches at Rochester Mayo (Wednesday, August 27), at Bloomington Jefferson (Tuesday, September 2), and a tournament at Tartan (Saturday, September 6). FHS is home against Owatonna (Monday, September 8).

The SSC begins with Apple Valley in the Tiger gym on Wednesday, September 10 at 7 pm. Farmington hosts their annual tournament on Saturday, September 13.

The regular season wraps up on October 14. Sections begin on October 22. Home matches will again be available free of charge on FHS Tigers Live.