South Tama’s Natalie Stadler (center) sets it up for Madie Bacon who looks to get a kill in the Trojans opening matches of the season. STC?fell to Grinnell in three sets. News Herald Photo/Allison Graham

Strong serving and mental resilience are two things the Trojans did very well in their season opener. South Tama travelled to Grinnell on Tuesday, September 1 for a non-conference match up.

The Trojans have several new starters in the line up after graduating seniors Laurel Scharnweber, Catie Collins, Sadie Kavalier, Alana Vest, Raven Hall and Erin Clayton in May.

Starting for South Tama were Serena Lowe, Kaitlin Berger, Kallie Hala, Natalie Stadler, Dani Stubbs and Abby Llewellyn.

Grinnell won the night in three sets 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20.

While the outcome of the night may not have been what the Trojans wanted, they definitely have a strong foundation from which to build on throughout the season.

“We held our heads high the whole game with no attitude, we were working as a team and digging up balls and hustling after every ball,” said senior captain Natalie Stadler.

Volleyball is Stadler’s favorite sport and she spends a lot of time in the off-season dedicated to honing her craft. With 2015 being her senior season, she has some definite goals in mind.

“Win as much as we can,” said Stadler, “But I think the most important thing is keeping our heads up. Being a captain I want to keep the attitude on the team high, I don’t want attitude my senior year. I want to have fun and live it up as much as I can.”

Not only is the starting lineup different for the Trojans but the team is also being lead by a new coach, Amy Dolash.

“We’ve been really working with the girls to remain positive so when they make mistakes they are bringing everyone right back up and into the game'” said Dolash.

That work has paid off as the girls showed good attitudes and continued to hustle after each ball.

The third set was their most promising as they came from a 17-9 deficit and nearly caught up with the Tigers. Lowe, Stadler and Llewellyn each took their turn serving and brought the Trojans within just three points of the lead.

From a coaches perspective there are areas the team will look to improve on, “Getting more disciplined on our execution. There were quite a few balls where there was hesitation between the girls. Some of that is just not playing with each other that often yet and just getting to know each other and some of it is just the discipline and the mentality to go after it,” said Dolash.

STC Stats: Kills Stubbs 12/29, Bacon 4/8, Stadler 5/14, Lowe 3/5; Assists Stadler 22; Serves Lowe 10/11, Hala 6/7, Stadler 11/12, Stubbs 7/9, Llewellyn 11/11, Knowles 7/8; Blocks Berger 1 solo, Knock 1 solo; Digs Knowles 7, Hala 4, Stubbs 3 Block assists Bacon 1, Berger 3, Stadler 1, Knock 2, Llewellyn 1

The Trojans will host their home opener against Center Point-Urbana on Thursday, September 3 and will be attending the BCLUW Invite on Saturday, September 5.