The Winfield-Mount Union Wolves have become a volleyball program synonymous with winning. WMU just missed out last season on back-to-back conference championships, falling a game short of first-place Wapello.

But, even with a somewhat new crew, Winfield-Mount Union believes a third North division title in the last five years in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference is theirs for the taking.

Among the leaders will be Pacey Schlee, who held down the back line with nearly 160 digs as a defensive specialist last year but also helped the attack with 34 serving aces.

Fellow senior Josie Nelson is expected to take on a more substantial role, while juniors Kellee Milks and Quin Smith will also take on bigger duties as hitters after combing for 153 kills and 26 blocked shots in 2023. New faces for the Wolves will include freshman Kynlee Buffington.

Head coach David Pieart tells KCII Sports that, despite needing to replace all the all-conference selections from last season’s 17-14 squad, their standards are not changing.

“There’s progress to be made,” Pieart says. “We’d like to win [the] conference, we’d like to make a bigger push in the postseason [and] we’d like to be more competitive in tournaments. So there’s lots of little goals [that] we’ve got.”

Winfield-Mount Union will begin the 2024 volleyball season tonight when they host Keokuk, and WMU’s first conference match will be this coming Monday against Louisa-Muscatine.