Girls’ volleyball has a lot to look forward to this season with Coach Arian Colton returning to District 128 to head the program.

Colton is a Libertyville alumna who captained the team to a 36-0 regular season record back in 1993. She was named to the Illinois All-State volleyball team that same year. In college, she was captain at Loyola University, leading them to their first NCAA Tournament. Since then, she has coached at Duquesne University, Round Lake High School, and Libertyville High School.

Colton said she came back when a friend told her about the opening. Her level of experience with the sport is exciting for the girls.

With a new coach in town, the girls have their eyes set on what they want to accomplish this season.

“Our goal, one of our big ones, is to win regionals, because we haven’t done that in a while and this team has the potential to do it. So, hopefully, we’ll work hard and it’ll pay off at the end of the season,” Captain Nicole Pieper (12) said.

Not only do the girls know what they want to accomplish this season, but they know what it takes to get there and how they can do that together.

“Definitely, for us, it’s going to be staying out of our heads. With volleyball, so many mistakes can be made that can screw up the game, so the biggest thing for us will be, after making a mistake, shaking it off and just making sure that we’re getting better and looking at the future, not the play that was in the past,” Pieper said.

Having six matches and a tournament already in the books, the young team has started strong. The girls started 2-0, winning against Grayslake North and Regina Dominican, the first win against Dominican in program history.

“We didn’t really know what to expect coming into this, so to have some success right away was exciting to me and super exciting to the girls and very promising,” Coach Colton said.

However, the girls have lost several games, dropping their record to 2-7 on the season so far.

“We lost against Leyden. They were a good team, but I don’t think they beat us, we beat ourselves more,” Captain Aleen Lim (12) said.

Coach Colton was excited with the way the season began, but knows the work is far from done.

“We have a long way to go and we’re pretty young. Right now we’re starting three sophomores on varsity, so we have growing pains to go through and a lot to learn. But to know that a lot of us are starting together and going to be able to build is great, and my upperclassmen have been very great leaders,” Colton said.

Their next home match is Wednesday, Sept. 13, against Maine West.