The Munising volleyball team has plenty of players on its roster this fall. There are over 15 Lady Mustangs on the squad, and tenth year head coach Josh Cole thinks that should be a very good thing.

“It is a very competitive group of athletes this season,” he said. “We have 16 athletes on the roster for the early season. These athletes know that they will have to bring full effort each practice because there are one or two others looking to get on the floor at every position.”

The Mustangs went 11-9 last year in their matches. They return a big chunk of their line-up, which should also be helpful.

“Team goals would be to build off a strong finish last season,” Cole said. “We got to the district finals and lost to Ishpeming. We would like to see some early season success versus some conference opponents that have bested us the last few seasons.”

They’ll have their first chance against many of those teams on Saturday, when they host their own tournament in what will also be their first matches of the year. Ishpeming, Superior Central, Brimley, Newberry, Westwood, Rock Mid-Pen, Gwinn will all be in attendance.

“[As for] top teams in the conference, Forest Park is a powerhouse no doubt, they are arguably a top three program in the entire U.P. in my opinion,” Cole said. “[Forest Park head coach] Bobbi Anderson and the previous coaches have really made that school a powerhouse in girls volleyball for the last 10-to-15 years. Superior Central is always so tough to play toward the end of the season, coach Kristine Bray does a fantastic job of getting her ladies ready to battle anyone at any time.”

Some returning players from last year’s team are seniors Dayne Behning (outside hitter, middle hitter), Bailey Corcoran (middle hitter), Elizabeth Wing (outside hitter) and juniors Kristin Joyner (libero), Hayden Bayer (outside hitter) and sophomore Carissa Deatsman (setter).

Some new players to the team will be juniors Sage Anderson (middle hitter), Tamryn Nolan (setter), Ember Morrison (outside hitter), Olivia Cotey (defensive specialist, libero), Janey Bellinger (right side) and freshman Addie Bowerman (middle hitter).

After their home tournament this Saturday, Munising will also host Manistique on Tuesday and head to Newberry on September 3.

“The first week is always a skills assessment and a chance for coaches to maybe try a 5-1 or 6-2 system,” Cole said. “I like to plug some athletes in different positions to see how they could fit into rotations and such.”