Marta Helfrick

It’s tough to find any discouraging words about the Chambersburg boys volleyball team as the season’s opener on Saturday approaches.

The Trojans have a lot of experience, good height, plenty of talent and a healthy dose of confidence.

“We’re very optimistic about how we think it will go this year,” senior Steven Swain said. “I think we’ve all improved as players on our club team and now we want to do well in the playoffs.”

Chambersburg coach Marta Helfrick said, “Our strength is our experience-heavy group. The core has been playing together since they were 14-year-olds and they’ve been waiting for this moment.”

Senior Treyton Stepler said, “Since we’ve been playing so long together, we have good chemistry. We know each other’s strengths and we know each other’s weaknesses and we can cover them up.”

The Trojans were 10-9 last year and reached the District 3 quarterfinals before having their season stopped by losses to Central York and Governor Mifflin. With Helfrick out for the year, Paul Schlabach took over.

Now Helfrick is back and looking forward to a big season.

“This is the first time ever since I’ve been here (fifth year as head coach) that we have only three players who aren’t at least 6-feet tall,” Helfrick said. “We have to use that to the max.

“In our scrimmage last Saturday, I thought our play exceeded my expectations, but we still have a to-do list of things to improve on.”

Treyton Stepler

The tentative starting lineup — all seniors — will include middle hitters William Simmers (6-5) and Jaylen Thomas (6-3), and outside hitters Stepler (6-1), Swain (6-2) and Josiah Picard (6-0), in addition to Spencer Rajtik (6-0) at setter and Wes Newman (5-8) as the defensive specialist.

Picard (219), Swain (208), Simmers (204) and Stepler (191) were the top four last year in kills, with Swain (.258) and Simmers (.256) having the highest percentages in hitting.

Simmers also led the team in block kills with 76 and blocks with 84.

Rajtik had 215 assists and Stepler added 109. Newman led the Trojans in digs (314), followed by Stepler (275) and Picard (241).

Rajtik, Newman and Picard tied for the team lead in aces with 21, and the top returning point scorers on serves are Stepler (355), Picard (310) and Newman (265).

“Aside from some physical things to work on, like getting better blocking, we’re off to a good start,” Helfrick said. “The guys have worked hard — we haven’t had a bad practice yet.”

Stepler said, “I think our defense is better. We’re pursuing balls more on scrappy plays and we’re not giving up on them.”

Senior defensive specialist Jacob Misal, junior opposite hitter Braden Byers (6-2) and junior middle hitter Alex Lapinski (6-2) also gained some experience on last year’s varsity.

Others with the potential to contribute are Bryce Diller (6-2, OH), Casey Grimes (6-3, setter, opposite), Colton Wright (libero), Riley Laite (6-0, OH), Kole Miller (6-1, OH) and Kyle Ganoe (6-0, setter).

Steven Swain

“We have a lot of guys who can fill in the gaps,” Helfrick said. “The good thing is all 16 guys are pushing each other every day.

“We’re all on the same page — we have three things to do to make the difference between being a good team and a championship team. We have to be mentally tough, we need to be the aggressor and we need to be consistent.”

Helfrick expects Cumberland Valley to be the team to beat in the Mid Penn Commonwealth — the Eagles still have ace Blake Liprando, and State College is also a favorite.

NOTES: The Trojan open the season at the Hempfield Tournament on Saturday, then jump right into the Commonwealth schedule at CV on Tuesday … The first home match is Thursday against Carlisle … The Trojans hit at a .224 clip as a team last year, and had 125 aces to 205 service errors.