The 2018 Lady Saints volleyball team hit the Greenhouse for the first time this season on Saturday. With a new coaching staff and a roster boasting 10 freshman, there’s a lot of new faces.

All of this “new” doesn’t scare the new Lady Saints Head Volleyball Coach, Tony Trifonov. He has big plans for the season.

He hopes to make it to the NJCAA tournament this year. Last year, the Lady Saints fell just short of making it, but ended up ranked third in the country at the end of the season. Trifonov thinks it’s possible for this team to make the national tournament.

“This season, they’re going to work hard, play hard and represent Seward County very well and hope to make everyone proud,” Trifonov said.

Sophomore right side hitter, Giovanna Tapigliani, agreed with the Trifonov and also stated that she has confidence in every player on the roster this year.

“As a team, we keep getting better and we keep gaining confidence together, so I think that this year will be very good for us,” Tapigliani said.

Along with the high hopes for the whole season, the Lady Saints hope to beat their rival, Hutchinson Community College, next week and in games later in the season.

“Last year, we played against them and won but during regionals we lost to them, so this year I’m hoping that we can beat them,” Tapigliani said.

Trifonov also hopes to be ranked in the Top Ten again this year and expects to win a National Championship. He hopes to have the same support from Seward County Saints Fans as the previous teams had.

“I do hope that everyone comes out to support us once again this year, and support us so we can achieve to win a conference for the third year in a row now. At the end of the season, I do hope to be a better team than at the beginning of the season,” Trifonov said.

The Lady Saints Volleyball team will take on Garden City Community College for their first home game on  Saturday, Sept. 1 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Greenhouse.