OURAY, Aug. 28, 6:42 a.m. – On paper, it appears the Ouray High School girls’ volleyball team should be a contender in the Class 1A Mountain League, especially since the majority of the team saw plenty of playing time a season ago.

“It’s always good to have girls who have been there for a while and know that they can play together,” said first-year co-coach Krissy Rhoades, whose team opens the season Saturday in the Montrose Invitational. Rhoades will head the team with co-coach Danny Wilbur.

Take the senior class as an example: all five of them – Kim Cramp, Alex Durham, Hannah Hollenbeck, Rocky King, and Lauren Taylor – saw a significant amount of action last year.

“They help the younger girls with skills and rotations and are usually the leaders of the team,” Rhoades said. “I am glad to have the experience both on and off the court, plus they aren’t afraid to swing at the ball and hit it hard, which is an awesome thing to watch.”

The experience doesn’t stop at with the senior class, either. Juniors Riley Arrington, Heidi Duce, Sara Wilbur, and LiErin Wilson are just as talented. The rest of that class includes Brooke Benke, Kellie Dakin, Jessica Garcia, Sierra Macfarlane, and Alixis MacDougall.

The remainder of the roster includes sophomores Arielle Baker, Jamie Salazar and Haley Trujillo, along with freshmen Riana Addison, Stephany Hanshaw, Geordyn MacDougall, Sara Martinez, Julia Schlajater, and Julie Sirotek.

Rhoades, a Silverton native who played at Fort Lewis and was an assistant at Ouray two years ago, said, “All together I think we are going to have a very strong team this year. The girls are starting to believe in themselves and their confidence levels are building a little bit. They are starting to feel the game instead of just play it so it’s getting pretty exciting to be a part of.”

But, there’s a downside to every team.

“The weakest part I think is our serving,” she said. “We’re not quite consistent with that yet, but we are working on that every day in practice so I hope it will come soon. There is also the issue of playing as a team and not for themselves. Once we can figure out that, I think we will be doing OK.”

The Trojans traveled to Montrose on Saturday for a scrimmage and it “went pretty well,” Rhoades said.

After competing in Montrose on Saturday, the Trojans will open Class 1A Mountain League play on the road at DeBeque on Friday, Sept. 7. They will then travel east to Edward to face league-foe Vail Christian the next morning.