By Scott Taylor | @Taylor_Sports
After a bit of a struggle last year with a new coach and a young team, this year seems much more promising for Lockport.
A strong start to the season has verified those expectations.
“We want to have a 20-plus win season this year,” Lockport’s JoDee Kovanda said. “Like coach said, we are much more experienced this year. We really think we can go far with the experience we have. If all of us are all in, which is our saying this year, we will be able to accomplish a lot.”
“Last year our season started off kind of rough and then we picked it up,” Lockport’s Serene Jones said. “I think we have a lot of momentum coming into this year. We have a lot of chemistry this year since we know each other and played with each other before.”
In addition to the 20 wins, the Porters are also hoping to bring home a regional championship.
“I said this should be a 20-win season and a potential regional championship or even sectional,” Mraz said. “If we’re falling short of that, that is a letdown. I have high expectations of them and so far they are living up to them. It is big for them to get that feeling of winning early.”
Losing just three seniors from last year and improving the team chemistry have been a big part of the resurgence.
“We only graduated three seniors and the bulk of these girls were the starters last year,” Lockport coach Nick Mraz said. “That is why I told them with all the experience they got last year, they are a veteran team this year, even though there are still a lot of juniors and some sophomores out there. There are not a lot of teams with their experiences. We are winning matches we lost last year because of that.”
“Last year we all weren’t that good of friends and we were kind of distant,” Kovanda said. “This year we are all good friends and love each other. I think that is one of the key things, just being there for one another.”
Being in the second year of Mraz’s system has also been beneficial.
“It has gone really good this year,” Jones said. “We are more used to coach this year.”
“There is always that growing pain with that transition,” Mraz said. “So, as the years keep going, it is going to keep getting better. But in the second year now, we know what to expect from each other and it makes it that much easier.”
Lockport jumped out to a 6-2 record against some tough competition, including the Plainfield North Invite as it played in a lot of matches right out of the gate.
“I load up the front of the season and it absolutely helps,” Mraz said. “I like getting going right away because we know what we need to work on. And seeing those good teams right away shows us where we are at and where we want to be. Going 3-2 at Plainfield North, I was happy with that with the competition.”
While the start has been very encouraging, there are still things the Porters are looking to fix going forward if they want to achieve their goals.
“Our serve receive will be a big key,” Kovanda said. “We go over it like an hour every practice. That is going to be a big key to our game.”
“We have to work on our coverage,” Mraz said. “We are having some balls drop where we are too slow to the ball and those are the cheap points we can’t allow. We have to anticipate more. If we can pick up those cheap points and make opponents earn it, we will be tough to stop.”