By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
For the third season in a row, everything with Waterford High School girls volleyball is new. Here’s hoping new sticks around long enough to get old.
First-year coach Ashley Ingish is the program’s third coach in as many years, and wants to establish consistency.
“What I would like to create is some stability with the program,” Ingish said of her first season with the Wolverines. “They know what the expectations are, and as far as on the court, seeing a strong sense of improvement, from now to the end of the season.”
Ingish said she learned Waterford finished in the middle of the pack last season in the Southern Lakes Conference, but also learned no one recalled the won-loss record from dual meets, and decided to let it go.
“Let’s move forward and go from now,” Ingish said. “I have a fresh perspective on everything.”
There is a lot of truth in that statement. Ingish graduated from Ripon College in 2011, got married in August 2013 and recently moved to the area to begin her first full-time teaching position as a physical education teacher at Waterford High.
Her previous coaching experience is at the club level in Ripon and West Bend. Ingish coached the West Bend East junior varsity in each of the last two seasons and also served as a varsity assistant coach. Ingish is a West Bend East alumna.
The Wolverines defeated Janesville Craig last season in four sets in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal match Oct. 24 at Craig. Waterford lost to Kenosha Tremper in three sets in the regional final Oct. 26 at Tremper.
Ingish is working with several players from the squad that defeated Craig.
Setter Logan Klein is back, and Ingish said Klein played strong last season in the second half after moving to setter.
Madison Blair and Shauna Malchine will play hitter positions on the front row. Outside hitter Mikaela Grunze is also back, as is Libero Hannah Michalowski. The libero is a defensive specialist who subs in at will.
Hitter Myah Kurhajec is also back. Mia Grunze is an intriguing freshman that Ingish said will also see time.
“She comes with high quality club experience,” Ingish said. “She’s 6-foot-1, and she’s going to be a force for us.”
Ingish said the Wolverines are strong at setter and can play plenty of hitters.
“As a group, I think they all have some really great strengths,” Ingish said of the aforementioned group. “My goal is going to be to get them to work together and work as one unit. We have a lot of really great pieces, and we just need to put everything together.”
Ingish said chemistry plays an important role in volleyball. Similar to offensive lineman in football, players in volleyball must develop an innate sense of how teammates react in particular situations.
Ingish is familiar with SLC foes Burlington and Westosha Central from her playing days at West Bend East.
“I know that Burlington and Westosha Central have a strong history of great volleyball programs, as a player and as a coach for West Bend East,” Ingish said. “I remember seeing Burlington and Westosha Central as a player. I loved playing them because I knew it was going to be a competitive match.”
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