STOCKTON — Although this will be Eddie Menzel’s second season as the Weston Ranch volleyball coach, he inherited the program last year after the summer and the Cougars struggled all season. Menzel worked hard with the girls this summer and is optimistic that the hard work will pay off. 
“We had about 40 girls in our summer program,” Menzel said. “And our incoming freshmen numbers were around 15, and for here that is pretty good. In talking to our upperclassmen, they do not remember those numbers ever being that high.
“Any time you get that many out that means they are enjoying it and having fun, and that is the biggest thing for us. When the other girls see the upperclassmen willing to come out and work, that sends a message and gets things going in a positive direction.”
The summer work included time in the weight room as well as the gym.
“We had a pretty successful summer,” Menzel said. “We worked on a lot of things we needed to work on and the girls did a lot of stuff in the weight room. It wasn’t like a huge drop off from the open gym to the weight room — we had pretty consistent number all the way through in both areas.
“We had a few girls really improve and they got a lot better over the summer so we are pretty excited for the year.”
Weston Ranch looks to improve from its 2-10 Valley Oak League, 6-13 overall record with the help of some strong returners.
“Amaya Finley was first-team all-league and she will be back,” Menzel said. “We are banking on her a lot this year.
“Senecia Patten will be in the middle for us and Zhane Sullivan has improved drastically and we are expecting a lot out of her.   
The Cougars will begin the season at the Orestimba Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 26.