MANKATO, Minn.—The goals the Bethany Lutheran volleyball team has set are ones that will push the group to a high level of competition under seventh-year head coach John Olmanson. "Our conference has always been strong, and in recent years, it has gotten even tougher," he said. "We plan to take as big of a bite out of our conference and extend our season past the conference tournament."



Senior outside hitter Megan Rutt (Le Center, Minn.), the conference's leading hitter (4.28 kills/set) last season, and setter Kalli Mathiasen (St. Cloud, Minn.) are two key returners for the Vikings. Rutt is the third player in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills, and the duo ranks in in the top 10 of many career categories. "I expect business as usual from those two," said Olmanson. "Both compete at such a high level and know what they want. They aren't stat watchers. I feel strongly they realize that by working towards our team goals, they're going to get their individual goals, so it's a mutual beneficial scenario. If they make those goals, then we're in a good place. Team goals were created by the team and are aggressive, realistic but aggressive."

Other significant returns are seniors Veeva Lee (St. Paul) on defense, Haley Domonoske (Waterville) and Mindy Poehler (Nicollet) as middles. "Veeva is a strong defensive player, Haley and Mindy do a nice job in the middle, and Kalli was a transfer last year and was able to step right in," commented Olmanson.

The program welcomes 10 freshmen to the roster and Coach Olmanson has seen positive transitions to the college game from them. "One thing we've seen in our sport is that the speed at the college level is much faster," he said. "That's where the newcomers usually struggle the most. Pleasantly, that faster pace doesn't seem to have affected them other than motivating them to try harder.

"The first year players are making us take a look at our lineup and it's a wonderful problem to have in more options," he continued. "We need to put the most competitive team on the floor."

The matches that Olmanson has circled on his calendar are Northwestern (Friday, Sept. 27) and Minnesota-Morris (Saturday, Oct. 12). "I haven't beaten Northwestern or Morris yet, and both were tied for first in the preseason coaches poll."
The Vikings open the 2019 slate at the Ripon Triangular against the host team on Friday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.