New LHS Volleyball Coach Looks To Expand Program

Lakewood High School chose local resident Maggie Szczepaniak to become the new head coach of its varsity volleyball program this offseason. Despite 13 years of coaching experience, this is Coach Maggie’s first high school level coaching position. Her previous experience has been at schools such as St. Christopher, Lakewood Catholic Academy, and Garfield Middle School. This background has made her very familiar with many of the girls on the current Ranger roster.   

Despite her inexperience at this level, Maggie is optimistic about her first season. “I have a lot of talent on the team this year,” she says. She cites players such as setter Hannah Marek. “You wish you had ten athletes like her,” she says of Marek. Two of the roster’s five seniors – Amelia Richardson (Ohio Wesleyan) and Gabby Wine (Ursuline College) have committed to play collegiate volleyball. The addition of basketball player Kristina Kamkutis will add size to the roster.

Szczepaniak has stressed “passion, perseverance, and persistence” to her squad. If the players can bring those attributes, the team will have a strong season. Maggie’s long term goals go beyond the short term wins and losses. She wants to expand the local grade school program to begin in the 4th grade rather than 6th grade (the current structure). Lakewood’s rival schools have programs that begin in 4th grade, giving their players a two-year head start on the Rangers. By addressing this situation, the varsity program will be improved in the longer term.

The Rangers season opens on August 20th at noon against nearby rival St. Joseph Academy. All of the Rangers home matches this season will take place at Harding Middle School. This will be the final Ranger season at Harding, since Lakewood High School construction is on schedule to be complete in time for the 2017-18 season.