Newman volleyball begins new season looking to defend state title

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Newman volleyball returns to the court as the defending Division IV state champions.

Last year, they secured their 18th title in program history, first since 2013.

The goal for the Greenies this season: sustain the success.

“It’s always the goal to win state,” head coach Colleen Loerzel says. “Having that goal allows us to set high expectations and work toward them all year. So just incremental improvement every day is what we’re looking for. That’s our daily goal. Then where we fall hopefully at the end is with a title.”

“We don’t really worry about the outcome,” sophomore middle blocker Caroline Beahm says. “We just worry about the process, putting all of our time and effort into each and every practice and match. We just worry about the outcome when we get there.”

“I think it’s about our teamwork, basically at practices, everyone being fully committed,” junior middle blocker Tatum Young says. “We’re all working to the same end goal, just keeping our eye on the vision.”

Last year, Beahm had a breakout season as a freshman.

She had 10 kills in the state championship win over Pope John Paul.

Because of all she accomplished last year, she’s confident heading into her sophomore campaign.

“With the team behind me, I’m very confident,” Beahm says. “We’ve been working so hard in preseason and all of our preseason matches. We’ve been working so hard and working on everything that we need to work on based on the matches that we just had from preseason. And I’m very confident going into it. I’m really excited.”

“She just eats, breathes, and sleeps volleyball,” Loerzel says. “She loves it. We always joke. She’s got ice running through her veins we say. She, in big moments last year, always came through. I think because she doesn’t let it get too big. She just focuses on the next touch. She does great things for us. We’re really excited about her.”

Beahm is just one of 5 returning starters.

The experience on the roster will be a strength for the Greenies.

“It’ll help us a lot, again, with the relationships,” Beahm says. “We’re all just there, especially for our newcomers too. We all just like to form and connect and come in as a family. We’re all like sisters. So having that connection will be really key to the success that we have.”

“The experience that our girls have, they’ve been there before,” Loerzel says. “So they know what to expect, and they can talk about it going in which is really important in big matches. They just have the poise. We’re excited to see what they can do.”'

Newman beat Booker T. Washington in their season opener Tuesday night.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.