Wrangell Sentinel -

It’s almost time for high school volleyball in Wrangell again, as the Wolves 2013 season gets underway Sept. 24, with their annual Jamboree set for Oct. 5-6 in Metlakatla.

Head coach Jessica Whitaker said this season will present a number of opportunities for a shot at state – mostly thanks to the returning seniors.

“I’m really looking forward to this season because we have multiple seniors coming back who have played with each other since middle school,” Whitaker said. “This will be their seventh year playing together for a lot of them. That helps because each of them know how each other plays and what their strengths are.”

The move down to 2A will also give Wrangell a shot at a state tournament berth, Whitaker added.

“I really am looking forward to it, though we had a lot of the same teams drop down as well,” she added. “We’ll see familiar faces, but it will give us hope to have a state seed with Mt. Edgecumbe and Petersburg staying in 3A. We’ll definitely face a tough game when we play Klawock.”

That matchup is set for Nov. 8-10 in Klawock.

Tori Gulla, who will enter the season as one of the senior members of the team said she is looking forward to more wins and better competition in Alaska’s 2A division.

“We’re moving to a 5-1 setup this year, which means we’ll only have one setter instead of two,” she said. “I think that will really work good for our offense because it’s more one-on-one, and it’s not as confusing. It’ll make us improve quite a bit, especially because we’re moving down to 2A where we won’t have the competition of schools like Petersburg, who are very tough.”

The Lady Wolves ended their 2011 season on an up note with a single win at the Region V tournament in Juneau in November.

Though they would come back later to log that victory in that tournament, the team began their jaunt with a tough loss 25-22, 25-18, 25-13 to Craig in the first round of the double-elimination format competition. Their final game of the 2011 season came, unfortunately, on a close 25-20, 28-26, 25-11 loss to Haines and the Lady Glacier Bears.

After their trip to Jamboree, the team will travel to Craig to take on the Lady Panthers on Oct. 12-13. Their first home games are scheduled for Nov. 1-3 when they once again face off with Craig.