Volleyball: Montevideo Thunder Hawks hope to break through in '26
· Yahoo Sports
Aug. 28—MONTEVIDEO — If there were ever a squad that needs and is on the cusp of a breakthrough season, it is the Montevideo volleyball team, which has won 11 games in the last four years.
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Last time out the Thunder Hawks were 0-12 in the West Central Conference and 2-19 overall.
"We have been rebuilding this program for four years and many of these athletes were set up against impossible odds early on, playing much more experienced teams while they were starting as freshmen, sophomores and even eighth-graders," Montevideo head coach John Mader said. "These girls never gave up — grit, belief in our system and teammates, determination, scrappy defense and a focus on creating a more efficient offense will be the deciding factors, not individual athletes. If there was ever a season or a team that was dependent and focused on the whole rather than the exceptional parts, this is that year."
Raegyn Glady is a standout returnee to the Thunder Hawks' junior class. She is a 5-foot-2 libero who is coming off an All-West Central sophomore year with 232 digs and 18 ace serves.
Glady, who is entering her fourth season as a starter, also plays for Southwest MN Volleyball, which repeated as national champion at the 2026 AAU Junior National Championships.
Olivia Sachs, a 5-3 senior defensive specialist, will team up with Glady in the back row. She is fresh off a junior season where she earned All-West Central Honorable Mention honors. Payton Howell, a 5-2 junior who is another defensive specialist, also returns as a starter to the back row.
Mader's team also retains both of its setters in juniors Megan Koosmann and Jillian Magnuson.
Magnuson tallied 258 set assists and 128 digs last year. Koosmann had 133 kills and 62 digs.
Also back for Montevideo are seniors Anika Brown (5-8, MH), Janie Miller (5-11, OPP), Taryn Stenson (5-8, OH) and juniors Jenna Schultz (5-11, MH) and Ellianna Steinbach (5-8, OH).