New Faces, Same Fire: Thresher Volleyball Ready for 2025 Season

A look into how Bethel College Volleyball is shaping up this year with names like Offerle, Koontz, Vines.

Bethel College’s (BC) volleyball team is ranked 4th in preseason polls, following No. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan, No. 2 McPherson, and No. 3 Evangel. Heading into this season, the Threshers have shown they can compete with the conference’s top contenders. The Thresher volleyball team closed the 2024 season with an overall record of 23–9 and a conference record of 10–3. It marked one of Bethel’s strongest campaigns, following a 23–10 overall record and an 11–2 conference record the previous year.

During the 2024 season, the team graduated seven key players, including Laci Ownbey, Jordan Boone, and Kylah Carter, each of whom racked up around 100 kills each last season. Graduated star setter Mia Roman finished her career with an all-time high season record of 1,163 assists.

Still, several seasoned players return to the court this season. Junior Cameron Offerle (114 kills), junior middle blocker Darla Crow (245 kills and 151 blocks), and sophomore libero Abigail Koontz (494 digs). When talking to star libero Abigail Koontz about the new dynamic of the team this year, she had nothing but positivity about the new season.

“The team has definitely changed, we’re not the same, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to be as good,” Koontz, from Newton said. “We have some new players stepping up, like Alayna Vines, who’ll make our game look good.”

When asked her opinion on how well the team is going to do this year, she commented on the preseason tournament at Park University in Parkville, Missouri, where the Threshers competed against top programs in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

“This season we’ll face tough teams, but we’ll be able to hang with them as long as we have all our parts figured out,” Koontz said confidently.

Thresher volleyball sounds like they’re gearing up for a long season ahead of them. With only three key returners and some new faces, the team looks as different as ever. At the Bethel Classic, the contrast between returning veterans and fresh talent was evident. Offerle showed out with an impressive 28 kills in the first game, and freshman setter Dalaina Schutte added 53 assists against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. They ended that weekend 3-1, with their lone loss being a tough five-set nail-biter.

Everyone will have to see for themselves how Thresher volleyball is evolving their game, but the team still has that fire in them since head coach Adrianna Leake took over. The team will spend much of the early season on the road before returning home. The next home game is Sept. 13, against Midwestern State.