provided by Andy Voorheis Photography
The Normal West Wildcat 2025 volleyball team has certainly faced their share of adversity this season, but Head Coach Kelsey Mueller is proud of the positive attitude that each member of the team has provided. Above, seniors Olivia Ziemer (left), Jaiden Temples (center), and Avery Feltes (right) lead the huddle before a matchup. Ziemer and Feltes are two of the Wildcats who have fought injuries this season, and Feltes remains out.
The Normal West volleyball squad finished up regular season play with a 20-14 record. They head into the post season with a familiar conference opponent.
After a 2-1 win over Downers Grove South on Saturday, Head Coach Kelsey Mueller and the Wildcats have gone into post season practice with a focused mindset, taking things one day at a time to get ready for Champaign Centennial.
The Wildcats will take on this familiar opponent tonight (October 28) in the Danville Regional.
“[If anything,] the season has taught me to take one day at a time, I think if you think too far and then your plans go out the window… It’s happened a few times this season, so I haven’t thought a ton about it,” Mueller stated about the preparation.
The last match-up between these two teams was on October 2, with the Wildcats coming on top with a 2-0 win over the Chargers.
With a day-by-day mindset for the Wildcats, they look to cruise past the Chargers and advance to the regional championship on Thursday in Danville, where they could take on the winner between Rantoul and Mahomet-Seymour.
The Wildcat squad has had a bit of adversity while going through the regular season.
With the injuries of University of Northern Iowa commit, Eden Hafermann, Northern Michigan University commit, Olivia Ziemer, and Virginia Tech commit, Avery Feltes, the Wildcats have certainly had to look to their bench for some help.
“a lot of people have stepped up in different ways. So, again, I think sometimes you have those few key players that it’s like, oh, yeah, that’s them, and this year it’s just been a lot of different people,” Mueller noted of the squad’s ability to step up.
Although Hafermann and Ziemer have both returned to the floor, Feltes remains out.
“I think Avery [Feltes], even though she’s hurt, has done a really great job of keeping things together and giving even more of a coaching perspective during practices and games, which has been good,” Mueller noted.
The return of Ziemer has been welcome due to her senior leadership.
“I think Olivia Ziemer, she’s come back, has been a really great presence for us on the floor. She has continued to get better game after game the past like months that she’s been playing so that’s been really great,” Mueller added.
Aside from those three key players, Mueller has been impressed with her setter, junior Laine Thompson.
“[She] has done a great job; she’s one of the ones that’s been on the floor this whole time and has done literally every position for us, other than maybe Libero,” Muller shared
Mueller also mentioned others who have stepped up, including seniors Asiah Blanks, Jaiden Temples and Kirra Funk.
“I feel really proud of how they’ve [all] handled the ups and downs and continue to move forward because I think we could be making a lot of excuses. I think that we could be hanging our heads and whatever, but that just wasn’t an option,” Mueller noted.
This resilience and positive attitude has truly made the season notable and one that Mueller will cherish moving forward.
“They’ve all been all in regardless of what I’ve asked them to do…regardless of the situation that we’ve been in. So, I’ve been more proud of this group than maybe any other group I’ve coached, you know, because of the way they’ve handled it and continue to be fighting no matter what.
“They’re just nice people. They’re good kids. They get along really well. Um, they love each other and I love them and I just feel like it’s, It’s just been really fun,” Mueller expressed.
The Wildcats travel to Danville High School to take on Centennial in a regional semi-final match-up at 7:00 PM tonight, October 28.
In other local Volleyball news, U-High heads to Bloomington to take on Urbana. Bloomington travels to Champaign Central for their 7:00 PM match-up, and Normal Community takes on Rock Island for a 7:00 PM home match-up.