From left, Lawrence High School senior Rachel Van Horn, Free State senior Alyx Glover, Veritas Christian senior Kristie Tiegreen and Seabury Academy junior Bria Phipps lead their teams into the volleyball season, which gets under way today.

First-year Lawrence High volleyball coach Stephanie Magnuson already is facing a dilemma.

She has more talented players than she knows what to do with.

“It’s almost a problem,” Magnuson said of the Lions’ depth, “because I don’t know who my starting six is going to be day-to-day. It’s a good problem to have.”

The team’s nine players, Magnuson said, are evenly matched in terms of talent and should expect to play every match.

The LHS varsity squad is senior-dominated and has just two juniors. Senior co-captains Kate Melton, Lindsey Murray and Rachel VanHorn lead the Lions. They are joined by seniors Taylor Bird, Emily Bracciano, Darcy McDonough, and Bridget Wenger. Juniors Maddy Orth and Tayler Tolefree will add to the Lawrence attack.

Eleventh-year Free State coach Nancy Hopkins is facing a similar situation. She said the Firebirds’ versatile roster is filled with interchangeable players.

The team’s five seniors, Hopkins said, all are taking on leadership responsibilities. Seniors Alyx Glover, Free State’s libero, and Kelsey Allen, the team’s setter, are the vocal leaders. Fellow seniors Brooke Carter, Melanie Chaussee and Ali McDermott also are contributing leadership.

They lead five younger players including junior Taylor Manning, who started last season, Chantay Caron-Milton, a sophomore transfer from Ottawa, and juniors Danielle Augustine, Sierra Dickson and Ali Jacobsen.

All of the players, Hopkins said, have an aggressive approach on the court, noting that during drills they get excited about hitting a teammate in the face with a spike.

Hopkins has also been impressed with the team’s drive to succeed.

“They’re not satisfied with being good. They want to be better,” she said.

Seabury Academy coach Craig Friedrichsen has nine players suiting up this year, but not one is a senior.

He said the team will be led by junior Bria Phipps, who has been in the program since she was a freshman.

“We’re going to count on her to do an awful lot this year,” Friedrichsen said.

Phipps will be joined in the Seahawks’ starting lineup by three sophomores – Jamie Fisher and Calli Noller, who both played last year, and transfer Sarah Ramirez. Freshmen Jessica Babcock and Angela Grimes also figure to contribute.

Arielle Spiridigliozzi, Jasmine Tse and Lara Thompson, who is currently in Malta and will join the team in September, round out the Seabury roster.

The Veritas Christian School roster, while thin, should be talented, coach Kyle Billings said.

“A lot of times (in previous years) we would have to compensate for the fact that our offense wasn’t that great,” the fourth-year coach said. “This year we have a lot more offensive weapons.”

Only seven players, three of whom are seniors, make up the Eagles’ roster, but Billings pointed out that they fielded a team of seven two years ago and finished 16-3.

Veritas senior co-captains Kristie Triegreen and Adrienne Willems will try to lead the team to a similar record. They will battle alongside senior Becky Woods, juniors Kirsten Bennett and Taelyr Shelton, sophomore Emily Zimmerman and freshman Meaghan Holmes.