By Chris Parker
Thayer volleyball has a new head coach in Rachel Holthaus this year. Holthaus, Winona alum, enters her third year as a coach. She played collegiately for Murray State where she was a multiple time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection.
She is excited for the opportunities Thayer volleyball presents.
“What attracted me to this program is that Thayer has always had great athletes in every single sport, and I felt that volleyball is another one that can be great as well,” Holthaus said.
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Thayer returns one all-conference player in junior Danyca Donahue. Donajue led the team with 158 assists last year.
Two sophomore middle hitters in Abby Bowers and Hadley Meyer return as well. Bowers led the team in kills with 103 last year while Meyer was third on the team with 51 kills. That duo also finished 1-2 in blocks last year with Meyer posting 37 blocks and Bowers just one block behind her at 36.
“Abby and Hadley are very tall and athletic, they bring a very big presence to the front row,” Holthaus said.
Fellow sophomore Ashlee Jackson also returns after she led the team in digs (202) and serve receptions (371) last year.
“The biggest strength that Thayer Volleyball has is work ethic. I am so proud of how hard they come in and work. Their drive to never quit is something that you cannot teach, they just already have it, which is great,” Holthaus said. “The area that we need to work on the most is serve receive. Eliminating silly errors and focusing on not letting a team serve us or get us down a few points. Passing will be key to staying in a game.”
Thayer will host a jamboree on Aug. 20 with Couch and Koshkonong. The Bobcats open the regular season on Aug. 29 at Couch.
