The Knoxville Volleyball Squad will open up play on Monday at Oskaloosa in a quad with the host Indians, Carlisle and Ottumwa. The Panthers are coming off a 26-13 season last year and made it to the class 4A regional final. After starting the season 6-4, the Panthers finished off 20-9. The Panthers are led by five seniors and at the top are Brittany Bacorn and Ella Breazeale, who will continue their respective career at the next level. Coach Mollie Keitges tells KNIA/KRLS Sports, the remaining seniors are also looking to have key roles on the team.

Keitges: “Having Ella and Brittany on the court is huge, we’re going to rely on them a lot. Katie Deaver have been working hard in the offseason, Mackenzie Karr has developed into a really good leader, and Anna Buttell has made huge strides and I think she’s going to surprise a lot of people this season.”

Bacorn is set to reach a couple of milestones this season. She is 58 kills away from setting the career record at Knoxville, and 86 away from becoming the first player in school history with 1,000 career kills. Breazeale led there team with 61 blocks last year. Deaver had a 90% serve rate, plus Buttell and Karr will be asked to fill bigger roles this season. The Panther Cross Country Squads were supposed to have had their early bird invitational at Pine Knolls Country Club, but due to the excessive heat, that event has been canceled.