Liberty Christian is looking to continue their success on the volleyball court this season. 

Liberty Christian Academy is coming off a 2022 season where they won a Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association volleyball title. Liberty Christian won MCSAA titles in all three girls varsity sports last season. 

“They’re definitely used to being part of a winning squad,” Head Coach Dakota Ball said. “You don’t have the big names that we had here before. So now it’s seeing which girls are gonna step up and fill the roles. They’re definitely wanting to win because they’re used to winning. So we’re gonna try to keep that rolling.”

Despite the loss of several key contributors to last year’s team, senior Andreanna Scheltens has her sights set on helping the Lady Eagles win a district title. 

“I really want us to win our districts just because that would be awesome,” Scheltens said. “We’ll see about state. I’m not sure because there are a lot more competitive teams there and we do have a lot of new players coming in, so we’ll just see how that goes. But if we were able to win the MAC (Metro Athletic Conference) Tournament, that’d be awesome.” 

Ball is in his first season at the helm of the Liberty Christian volleyball program after previously serving as an assistant coach for the volleyball team. Bill Ball, Dakota’s father, coached the Lady Eagles last season. 

Despite the coaching change, Scheltens has not seen much change in their practices from last season. She said Dakota Ball handled most practices last season.

“Dakota was mostly the one just doing practices and stuff,” Scheltens said. “So I don’t think it’s much of a transition other than we won’t have (former) Coach (Bill) Ball at most of the games. And he was really good with the motivational stuff though. So I guess we will miss that. But Dakota’s hilarious and he’s fun.” 

The Lady Eagles will also benefit from the assistance of multiple former players, including 2022 graduate Gracie Foran. Dakota Ball said the assistance helped in his transition to the head coach role.

Ball said with an inexperienced roster, their focus early will be  to learn the game of volleyball and teaching the players the aspects of volleyball. Ball stressed serving will be key for the Lady Eagles this season, specifically placing their serves. They will focus on where to put the ball and read the court, Ball said. 

“Right now, we’re trying to see what these girls are capable of,” Ball said. “We’re gonna try to get some scrimmages together before the season starts. But really, the first game is gonna be focused on seeing how these girls gel, how they communicate, see if they understand the game.”