The Iowa Mennonite School volleyball team is on the court for the first time in 2018 when they travel to Fairfield for a quadrangular event Thursday.

IMS is coming off of a season that saw them finish with a 15-14 overall record. They finished with a sterling 7-1 mark in conference play, tying with Mediapolis for a share of the North Division Superconference championship. IMS rose as high as No. 10 in the class 1A volleyball poll from the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union. Injuries held IMS back from achieving even more last year as starters Mia Graber and Sami Miller both missed significant time.

Iowa Mennonite looks primed for another run at a division title in the Superconference this year, returning their kills leader Suzanna Yoder from last season. She finished 2017 with 146. Yoder also led the IMS defense a season ago with 350 digs. The team’s assist leader Sami Miller is also back after her 256 helpers a year ago, as is Rubye Ney who was second with 139. This week, IMS head volleyball coach Shannon Miller talked about what has her most excited about the upcoming year. “I really think the way the seniors are communicating and taking on leadership roles is what makes me really excited. I think our communication in the back row is the best that it’s ever going to be. Defensively, these ladies have been playing together in multiple sports for four years. They know each other really well in a positive way, which is really good for the team and gives a good example to our younger players of how we like to run our gym in a teaching fashion. I’m also excited by the fact that the people who will be stepping into the remaining spots have been in the program for two or three years and they look ready to step in and take on the challenge.”

Fairfield was a coming out party for Iowa Mennonite a year ago as they went 3-0 at the event, beating Eddyville-Blakesburg, Albia and Fairfield. Those same three teams will oppose IMS tonight. Action begins at 5:45 this evening at Fairfield High School.