CHEBOYGAN — It might only be August, but the Cheboygan varsity volleyball team showed loads of potential in its season opener against Gaylord on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
Starting their campaign in excellent fashion were those Chiefs, who took down the Blue Devils 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-9, 25-22) in an entertaining non-conference home clash.
Here's some takeaways from Cheboygan's positive start.
New names stepping upWhen a team graduates multiple stars from the previous year, one might think the program would take a step back.
That doesn't appear to be the case with the Chiefs (1-0), who received numerous contributions from players who mostly spent time at the junior varsity level in 2025.
While the Chiefs certainly benefited from the quality attacking of junior Diem Schley and senior Maddie Long, juniors Lydia Kosanke and Sophia Naden also got in on the fun with excellent offensive play of their own. During a stretch late in the third set, Naden delivered a pair of kills to help Cheboygan go back up 2-1 in the match.
With those attackers, along with the encouraging play of other juniors like Aubrey Smith, Estella Redding and many others, as well as sophomore Lucy Coleman, the Chiefs showed strong cohesion in match one.
"It's really nice to know that the strong majority of this team is a group of juniors," Cheboygan coach Jordan Barrette said. "They're juniors, and I did pull up a sophomore in Lucy (Coleman) to set, and you wouldn't have guessed she was a sophomore on this team who hasn't played with them. Those juniors, for the most part, have played together, with the exception of Diem (Schley), who hasn't played with them since she was on varsity, but they all figured it out together. They're playing as a team — and some of them in new roles — so that's been a good change, but it's good to see that they can be this kind of team, and they're working so hard at playing well together."
Mental toughness already shownIt might be too early to judge a team on their mental toughness.
However, Cheboygan's showed resiliency after struggling in a second-set loss to the Blue Devils, who evened the match at one-apiece. Instead of letting Gaylord maintain its momentum, the Chiefs blitzed them with a dominant triumph in the third that saw them build a commanding 14-3 lead after a kill from Naden.
Down late in the fourth, Cheboygan showed mental strength again by regaining the lead and finishing the match with a powerful kill from Schley.
"They don't give up," Barrette said of her squad. "They're like, 'We're fine.' I was so excited to see what they did in a game, and to see that they're still not going to give up. Even if they were down by five, they felt they were good."
Feeding off the atmosphereWednesday's match was played in the middle of August, but if you were present, it felt like a postseason showdown at the start of November in terms of atmosphere. School might not be in session yet at Cheboygan, but the Chiefs received excellent support from a loud and proud crowd fueled by a highly energetic student section.
"I feel like we do really good when it's a home game because the crowd always gets super excited and having our home student section to cheer us on, it just gets us way more excited," Diem Schley said.
Cheboygan will aim to win a second consecutive Pellston Hornet Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Cheboygan stats from Wednesday's match will be provided as soon as they become available.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan volleyball shines in season-opening triumph over Gaylord
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