Comet volleyball team set to bump up to the next level

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — You can’t argue against the importance of fundamentals.

But if you want to play above the net against some of the traditional volleyball powers of the Northeast Iowa Conference, you need to take your game beyond the fundamentals.

Charles City head volleyball coach Sue Hoefer believes her Comets are entering that realm.

“We’ve been teaching the ‘big rock’ part of the game to these girls for some time,” Hoefer said while using a term for basic fundamentals. “Now, we’re ready to get to the finer nuances of the game.”

During her previous stint as Charles City’s head coach, Hoefer coached the Comets to the State Volleyball Championships in 2016. But with both of her daughters playing in college — Jackie with the University of Northwestern and Katie with Wartburg College where she was the American Rivers Conference Defensive Player of the Year her junior and senior seasons — Hoefer decided to step down after the 2016 season.

When Charles City was suddenly without a head coach on the eve of the 2020 season, Hoefer stepped up and agreed to fill the position with fellow coaching veteran Adie Olson.

When Hoefer started her second stint with the team three seasons ago, it was in essence on an interim basis. But after the first season back, Hoefer wanted to coach the returning players for the following season.

The Comets bring back some senior experience as well as a talented freshman class from last season.

Last season, the Comets came on strong down the homestretch after taking some early-season lumps while competing against state-ranked teams in rapid-fire succession at weekend tournaments.

From watching the Comets play a marathon scrimmage with little breaks in the action during their fourth official practice of the season, you get the feeling that they are already in mid-season form.

“This first week has been going great,” Hoefer said after last Thursday’s practice. “We just finished our summer camp and we participated in the Wartburg Team Camp, and did very well there … the girls were very focused.”

Charles City will start the season by hosting a triangular on Aug. 23 with Saint Ansgar and Waterloo Christian.

The Comets were due to scrimmage against Saint Ansgar and Aplington-Parkersburg on the Saturdays before the triangular opener.