Lady Hound front returns intact

FORT MADISON - Sometimes, Fort Madison volleyball coach Kelly Knustrom said, her players aren’t ready for practice to end.
“Kids have left smiling,” she said. “I’ve had kids leaving, saying, ‘Can we go one more time?’ So I feel like that’s a positive when they want to keep going even though time’s up.”
The Bloodhounds went 7-26 last season, but have a deep group of players back with more experience and a willingness to improve.
“The atmosphere in the gym is really positive right now, and the kids are working really hard,” Knustrom said. “It’s the preseason, and we’re still trying to find where everyone fits. But the practices have been really fun.”
The front row is intact with the return of senior outside hitters Dayonna Davis and Jaycee Fullenkamp.
Davis led the Bloodhounds with 199 kills last season, and was second on the team with 226 digs.
“She'll be huge on the outside for us,” Knustrom said. “She's grown so much. I mean, she was very solid for us last year, but she's grown in her game, and with some of the things that she's really comfortable doing.”
Fullenkamp had 53 kills last season, but her role will expand this season.

“She went and played for a club team and played middle, and when she talked to me, and she's like, ‘I don't like middle,’” Knustrom said. “And we worked through it, and it's made her so much better.I'm excited for people to see her on the outside. I think she's going to do really good things for us.”
Sydney McEntee is back in the middle for the Bloodhounds. She was second on the team with 162 kills last season, while leading the team with 31 blocks.
“She just continues to work hard,” Knustrom said. “She’ll be a presence for us there in the middle.”
Alaina Schwerin, a junior, also returns as a middle hitter after having 40 kills last season.
Knustrom has two veteran back-row players in senior Kenzie Huebner and junior Kylie Lumino. Huebner led the Bloodhounds with 291 digs last season, while Lumino had 208.
“Those two are very much vying for the libero position — they both bring something special and they both are equal,” Knustrom said. “We’ve talked about playing a two-libero system, but they said they like to be on the court together, so we’re going to have to see what we can do.”
Knustrom, in her fifth year as the Bloodhounds’ head coach, has 35 players in the program.
*Fourteen freshmen came out, and we have a lot of sophomores, so we have a good young group,” she said. “The retention from middle school to high school is very good, and I like to see that.
“I've said the kids that are here, they really want to be here. Volleyball is something that they truly enjoy. So I can't really ask for more than that. I want a program where people want to be a part of it, even after they leave, and I think we have that.”