By RYAN WALKER
Norwell’s volleyball season kicked off with a bang in The Castle Monday night..
In a 3-0, straight-set victory over North Side, the Knights improved to 1-0 with ease to open the 2024 campaign. The season is highly anticipated by head coach Kayla Hunter — and for good reason.
The team returned a bulk of starters and varsity lettermen, but also is the first full year with the Class of 2026. Eleven of the 15 members on the roster are juniors. Some have played significant time with the big club — Vanessa Rosswurm, Macie Saalfrank, Hope Mitchell and Autumn Lee, which helped Norwell to its first winning season in 10 years, going from 16-18 in 2022 to 21-13 in 2023.
“That junior class specifically has meshed well since they were in middle school,” Hunter said. “They just have always kind of gotten it. They all buy in. They like each other. They cheer for each other, which is really helpful when they’re a really deep class.”
The junior and senior class led the way on the court. The Legends, the set scores were 25-7, 25-8 and 25-13.
Rosswurm and Mitchell led the way with eight and seven kills and were assisted by Emma Vachon with 18 assists.
Vachon added six aces to senior Rebecca Settle’s five.
Monday was the perfect way to start the season for coach Hunter.
She said that the coaching staff challenged the group to play intensely but to still have a blast.
North Side went just 6-22 last year, including a 3-0 loss to Norwell in the opening match. But Hunter wanted her team to take care of business in all three sets and keep the pedal to the medal. Her team did, playing a fast-paced game and with great team communication that seems to have a solid connection already.
“We said we want to set a tone,” Hunter said. “And for (the team), we know that this group has such high potential, and we want them to see that. I think they had so much fun playing tonight, too and so it’s nice for them to see that you can be focused and intense and still have fun and it’s fun to play well.”
The Knights will look to continue that early-season flow going. Their next match will be against Northrop on the road and will start at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20.
Other stat leaders were: Mekynzi Beck with two blocks, Lee and Settle with five digs.
The junior varsity team won 2-0 with both sets with a score of 25-7.
ryan@news-banner.com
