RITZVILLE – After losing seven seniors to graduation from last year’s team, the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos are entering the 2022 season with a roster full of new faces.

The Broncos finished 2021 with a 13-7 record, qualifying for the 2B State Tournament in the process. Now, coming into the 2022 campaign, head coach Cari Galbreath has her work cut out for her.

“It’s exciting, but you also have your work cut out for you,” Galbreath said of the task at hand of replacing seven seniors. “Trying to figure out positions, and seeing potential. I want to get them, not just this year, smoothed for the year after, and even the year after. It’s exciting, but it’s also work in making sure my vision’s constantly focusing forward.”

With putting together a new team, the concept of team chemistry has been ever-present with the Broncos.

“Chemistry is so important, especially in the game of volleyball where points don’t last very long and it’s a game based off of errors, pretty much,” Galbreath said of the importance of team chemistry. “Being able to keep the chemistry when there’s a lot of errors is huge.”

The responsibility of creating said chemistry falls on the players, especially seniors.

“One of our goals this year is to be united, so we’re really excited that our team chemistry has been super good when we were doing summer camps,” senior Taylor Galbreath said, the head coach’s daughter.

Lind-Ritzville/Sprague players have been attending camps, open gyms and more in effort to create a bond with one another, which will be seen on the court once the season begins on Sept. 9.

“Sometimes we would go get ice cream and walk around the town,” senior Raegan Snider said. “Be together, whether that’s talking as friends or talking as teammates and team strategy. We really like doing team bonding together.”

The team attended camp at Central Washington University and hosted other local schools at open gyms throughout the summer.

“During the off-season, we had some open gyms with some other schools that would come and play with us,” Galbreath said. “We did a tournament at (Central Washington University), that was back in June. In August, it’s pretty much up to them to find opportunities because that’s our dead season, so we can’t do anything.”

Galbreath was satisfied to see the turnout of her team throughout off-season workouts, and the team even had some graduated players return to assist with the team.

“I feel like during the off-season, during the summer, we had a good turnout from the young ones,” Galbreath said. “Showing that they’re in it, and they like the game and they want to get better – that’s always a good thing for a coach to see.”

The Broncos begin their season on Sept. 8 with a home matchup against Odessa.

“Chemistry, effort and just skills – where we are, to kind of get that baseline of skill, and they go from there,” Galbreath said of what she hopes to see in the first few games.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Varsity Schedule

Sept. 8 - vs Odessa - 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 - Bronco Invite - 9 a.m.

Sept. 14 - vs Columbia-Burbank - 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 - vs Asotin - 1:30 p.m.

Sept. 20 @ Chewelah - 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 22 - @ Tri-Cities Prep - 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 27 - @ Reardan - 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 29 - vs St. George’s - 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 - @ Kittitas - 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 6 - vs NWC - 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 13 - @ Liberty - 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 - @ Liberty Tournament - TBD

Oct. 18 - vs Davenport - 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 - vs Kettle Falls - 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 25 - @ Colfax - 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 26 - @ UCA - 6:30 p.m.