Spencer alum rebuilding Rockets’ volleyball program

MARSHFIELD – Spencer volleyball coach Alicia Herman is trying to do something her mother did four times.

Between 1996 and 2004, Abbotsford High School and head coach, Bev Endreas, made eight appearances in the WIAA State Volleyball Tournament, winning championships in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001.

“At a very young age, I was learning the game of volleyball and watching the game of volleyball,” Herman told Hub City Times during a recent interview. “I had a love for volleyball in high school and now I’m coaching high schoolers and I’m helping out in our youth program, so I could see myself doing this from very early on, and I enjoy doing it.” 

Herman, now in her sixth year as the head coach of the Rockets, made a state tournament appearance as a player, when Spencer went 1-1 at the Resch Center in 2011.

Herman was also on the team in 2012, when the Rockets made a Sectional Finals appearance and won their first Cloverbelt Conference championship.

“I knew I wanted to come back and give back to this program at some point,” Herman told Hub City Times during a recent interview. “When I returned in 2021, we kind of started from the bottom. We were lucky if we won a set. So, my goal every year is just to build on something from the year before and try to get a little bit better than the year before. So, going from not winning a single match to winning fifteen matches and being second in the conference currently, that’s very telling of the direction our program is going, and it’s a positive one.”

Herman says tournament play is where the Rockets are struggling.

“Showing up on a Saturday and figuring out how to play consistently through a whole day is still kind of a challenge for us, but something that we continue to grow in and learn, and we’ve been making major steps in that area over the years,” Herman told us. “We definitely play better than what our record shows. We come very close to winning matches, but we just can’t pull it off. We’ve got to figure out how to finish games, but we’re coming a long way with that.”

Herman has most of last year’s team back for this season. The Rockets have five juniors, including setter Chloe Timm.

“We started out in a 6-2 with her and Danica Weber (sophomore), who is also a returner. They were our two setters at the beginning of the year,” said Herman. “Danica was dealing with a little bit of injury, so we switched to a 5-1 and Chloe has kind of taken that lead. She ran a 5-1 last year, but she also can hit the ball really well, so we wanted to try her at not setting all the way around, but also hitting, but we have switched back to her now setting all the way around, and she’s done a phenomenal job for me.”

As only a junior, Timm just recently surpassed 1,000 assists for her high school volleyball career.

Senior Carmen Krause and her younger sister, sophomore Caislyn Krause, are also part of this year’s squad.

Carmen is in her fourth season as a varsity player.

“[She] started out as a middle blocker, [but has] now moved to an outside hitter the last three years and has done a phenomenal job. She puts up big numbers for us every night.”

Caislyn, meanwhile, is in her first full season as a varsity player.

“As a sophomore, she’s putting up some good numbers and gaining confidence every single game, which is really cool to see,” Herman said.

Juniors Lydia Lau and Addy Soyk are mainstays along Spencer’s back row.

“Lydia is our main libero, with Addy as our DS (defensive specialist). Lydia also dealt with a little bit of some injury in the middle of the year here, and Addy stepped right into that libero position, and they are both phenomenal back-row players for us.”

In the middle, the Rockets have senior Rebecca Gomez and junior Olivia Schreiner.

“Becca is our senior, but she has only played volleyball for four years, but she doesn’t look like it,” said Herman. “She’s a big blocker and can hit very well for us, and Olivia also contributes to the team very well. [She] has stepped up big in the last couple games hitting out of the middle for us.”

Junior Maddie Delo plays on the right side.

“She puts up a double block with our middles and does well with getting touches there,” Herman told us.

Seniors Peyton Ostricki and Vayda Kelnhofer are key players off the bench for the Rockets this season.

“And they contribute very positively on the bench, bringing that energy and intensity every single game,” Herman shared.

“And then I just recently pulled up three girls that are the bright lights to our future, which are (freshman) Tessa Bowman, (sophomore) Khiah Krause and (freshman) Izzy Gorst,” Herman added.

“I talk a lot about playing clean ball, which is a struggle for us sometimes, where we get stuck in ruts of getting out of a certain rotation, but when they can get out of that quicker, we play much better ball,” Herman continued. “I have the mentality of ‘One and done,’ so if the other team scores a point, it’s done after that. We score the next one. And if they do score that next point, then a two-max mentality. We strive for that every single time. Obviously that doesn’t always work out, but having that mindset with the girls definitely helps them to move past points quicker.”

Herman says the strength of her team right now is its defense.

“Our defense is phenomenal – digging balls and passing and serving. Our serve is very, very good.

“Something that’s come on very strong here lately is mixing up our offense a little bit,” she added. “We have traditionally relied on one person over the years and that only can get you so far. The other hitters in our front row have now contributed as well and our setters have done a phenomenal job of mixing the ball up and not just taking it to one person, and that has helped us a ton in the last couple weeks in finishing games and beating teams that we wouldn’t have beaten in years past.”

Herman’s assistants are JV coach, Ashley Heiman, as well as Neal Hogden, Heidi Brostowitz, and Stratford graduate Delaney Denne. Kyler Stange serves as team manager.