PSN Spotlight - Riverwood Raiders Volleyball, New Season, New Head Coach In Shannon Swanson

As the Riverwood Raiders volleyball team gets set for the start of the 2021 season, they will be doing so with Shannon Swanson, who took over as head coach about midway last season, heading into her first full season as coach of the Raiders. And coming into the season, Swanson says she’s “excited” about having the opportunity to lead the Raiders and that “being able to jump into summer workouts in July was awesome. It was a great way to get the girls into a good groove, being back at practices and running things the way we want to run them,” Swanson said.

Swanson also touched on the fact that last year’s team graduated several key players, however they have moved some great talent up from last season’s junior varsity team and have incoming freshman joining the program and the time they have had this summer has been “really exciting.” And as it should be because for Swanson and crew, a return to the playoffs is still a possibility and the “drive” her girls have shown this summer gives reason to believe. “Just seeing their drive coming into these season and wanting to be the best that they can be and possibly make playoffs again, it’s really exciting to see,” Swanson said.

And as the Raiders focus in on preparing for their first match up, Swanson says with the mix of new players and returning players, “trusting each other” will be one of the areas she wants to see her players working on. “It’s a whole new team all over again, so they have to learn to work with each other,” Swanson said, adding they learning their new plays offensively and defensively will also be areas for the Raiders to work on as they get set to open up the season.