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North Boone volleyball opens season with sweep over Freeport
By Trenten Scheidegger
The North Boone Vikings got off to a much-needed 1-0 start to their 2024 volleyball season. After going just 5-28-1 last year, and 0-9 in Big Northern conference play, the Vikings are still looking to turn their program around.
North Boone Head Coach Carley Patmythes is in her fourth season as head coach. Coming into the year, Patmythes held a career record of 12-85-2. In addition to that, the Vikings had a large amount of roster turnover, losing six seniors to graduation in 2023. They also lost a pair of three-year starters in Haven Hahn and Skylar Pargman.
A handful of returning varsity players are looking to lead the way to change for the Vikings. Lilianne Bethards, Avarie Torres, Madison Chojcsk, Isabella Green and Savannah Cunningham are all back with Varsity experience under their belt.
This year’s Vikings face a specific goal: to win a Big Northern conference game. While that may seem simple, a conference victory has eluded the North Boone program for many years. The Vikings’ last BNC victory came all the way back in 2018. They are 0-43 in conference play ever since.
Patmythes and the Vikings have set their sights on getting those league victories.
“Our team goal is to bring home conference wins, as North Boone has not seen a varsity conference win in some years,” Patmythes said, ahead of the season.
Although that goal seems simple on paper, competing in the BNC is no easy task for any team. Patmythes spoke about the challenges of facing off with that level of competition.
“The Big Northern Conference is one of the toughest conferences in our area for volleyball, hands down. Since 2019, three of the schools have gone on to win the state tournament and placed in the final 4 in 2A. In the last few years, we have been developing our weaknesses and homing in on our strengths. We are offensively stronger than ever, and looking forward to seeing this team in action. Our strengths are within not only our Varsity, but the whole program. They are more determined than ever to make a statement this year,” Patmythes shared.
Patmythes said the team put in the work in the offseason to lead the way when play began.
“What we lack in height, we make up for in defense. Our girls hit the weight room during the offseason, and they look faster than before,” Patmythes explained.
Although it wasn’t a conference game, the Vikings did get their season started right. On Aug. 28, North Boone beat Freeport in two sets, starting the year 1-0. The Vikings won by scores of 25-20 and 25-18.
Cunningham had an explosive game offensively, leading the way with seven kills. Bethards was right behind her with six, and Torres added four. Defensively, it was Kylie Blazer’s efforts that stood out. Blazer was all over the floor as she totaled a team-leading nine digs. Audrey Peace added five of her own. Peace also did a wonderful job of facilitating the offense as she totaled 15 assists in the week-one victory.
