North Callaway feels like much of the same is possible this volleyball season.

The Ladybirds were co-champions in the Eastern Missouri Conference after posting their first winning season in program history.

Head coach Andrew Klein said last season was historic in many ways for North Callaway. It was its most wins in a season, its first conference championship, first tournament victory after taking the Calvary Lutheran tournament title, and first district win.

“We return the entire varsity roster besides one from last season,” Klein said. “Our strength will be the depth of our team.”

Rylee Horstman graduated, but the other all-conference players will be back. Senior libero Peyton Boulware was all-conference and all-district and was “a vocal leader and captain,” senior outside hitter Alex Craighead was all-conference and “a power hitter and game changer,” and senior setter Lauren Pezold was all-conference and all-district and is the all-time school leader in aces.

Klein said there should be plenty of depth behind these girls. There will be 25 overall, including eight seniors, so he said this should help North Callaway “emotionally have an edge” against younger teams in key moments.

“Depth will help throughout the year with high intensity practices daily,” Klein said. “Over the first week of practice, we have been able to improve and get live reps that feel equal to playing in games against other teams.”

Sophomore Ainsley Reinhard is expected to be a key newcomer who has started on varsity before and has taken “some of the biggest strides” in the offseason. North Callaway has seven sophomores and seven freshmen.

“Our goals are to improve on last year’s record, compete for conference and continue to improve volleyball culture at North Callaway,” Klein said.