NORTH ROBINSON — The Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles prepare to take to the volleyball court in 2018 under the familiar leadership of head coach Amber Christy, who is entering her eighth season as the leader at CCHS.

In 2017, the Eagles finished a game above .500 at 12-11, including a 9-7 finish in the extremely difficult Northern-10 Athletic Conference.

Colonel Crawford will have some big shoes to fill in the fall of 2018 as they saw two key elements from a year ago graduate last spring.

Jenna Siegel, who finished with an all-conference, first-team nod as well as first-team District VI honors walked the stage to receive her diploma. Siegel finished last fall’s campaign at third in the league in kills (322), 10th in overall serving statistics and fifth in blocks (66). Another significant loss for the Lady Eagles is Karlie Kurtzman. Kurtzman received N-10 and District VI honors in 2017 and finished second in digs in the conference with 454. Kaylee Zizzo and Caitlin Koschnick will also not be on the court this season for the black and yellow.

With the departed are the key returnees, led by Danielle Horsley and Alyssa Sallee.

Horsley is a three-year letterwinner that also received conference and district honors last season and finished eighth in the N-10 in digs (317) and fifth in overall serving stats. Sallee picked up her first varsity letter in 2017 and wrapped the season in ninth in setting with 324 assists and seventh in overall serving.

Joining Horsley and Sallee again this season will be Isabella Stalter, Hailey Ratliff and Keirsten O’Rourke. These returning letterwinners will also be joined by a crop of newcomers in the likes of sophomores Allison Teglovic and Hannah Plezak.

“We look to compete in the very competitive N-10 Conference,” states Christy in an email. “We are fairly young with several first year varsity players likely to see a lot of playing time this upcoming season.”

The season will officially kick-off for the Crawford squad on Saturday, August 18, on the road, against Riverdale. Conference play begins for the Lady Eagles on Tuesday, August 21, also on the road, against the Upper Sandusky Lady Rams. The home opener for Colonel Crawford will be played against the Ontario Lady Warriors on Saturday, August 25.