Ste. Genevieve Lady Dragons Volleyball Preview – 2025–2026 Season

written by Kylor Plunk

edited by Joshua Banks

The Ste. Genevieve Lady Dragons volleyball team enters the 2025–2026 season with a young but talented roster. Seniors Emma Gegg and Vivian Kiefer lead the squad, though Kiefer will unfortunately miss most of the season due to injury.

They are joined by juniors Emme Browne, Chloe Wehner, Lucy Gegg, Kathryn

The volleyball team proudly displays their second-place plaque at the Hillsboro Tournament, celebrating an excellent performance.

Herzog, and Audrey Gegg. The program also welcomes a large sophomore class, including Aleah Filer, Lilah Nix, Rebecca Palmer, Madison LaGrace, Kia Pati, and Paige Schwent. Freshmen rounding out the roster are Emma Jokerst, Ally Gegg, Molly Grass, Morgan Winch, Aubrey Worley, Claria Giesier, and Blarya Bauman.

The Lady Dragons are coming off a strong 2024–2025 season in which they posted a 22–9–2 record. With six seniors graduating last spring, this year’s team faces the challenge of replacing key contributors. Returning standouts include:

• Emma Gegg – played in 85 sets last season with 225 kills and 35 aces

• Emme Browne – appeared in 104 sets, recording 41 aces

• Aleah Filer – competed in 104 sets and anchored the defense with 60 blocks

  
  

These players will be crucial to the Dragons’ effort to continue the program’s winning tradition. The 2025–2026 season is already off to a promising start. The Dragons opened play on Saturday, August 30, at the Hillsboro Tournament, finishing with a 3–1 record. They followed that performance with back-to-back victories this week—defeating St. Paul Lutheran in their home opener and then battling to a hard-fought win over Jefferson R-7 the next evening.

Assistant Coach Barnes shared her outlook for the season. Her coaching philosophy is built on the idea of “freedom of choice, not freedom of consequences.” She explains:

“You can choose to give 100 percent all the time and reap the benefits of hard work, or you can choose not to—and miss out on the success you could have achieved.”

Coach Barnes emphasized that her biggest goal is for the team to play together, support one another, and “better the ball” for their teammates on every play. Practices are designed to be fun yet highly competitive to keep players sharp and motivated. “This group is special,” Barnes added. “These girls genuinely love the game and enjoy being around each other. I’m very excited to see what they can accomplish this season.”

With strong leadership, rising underclassmen, and a culture of hard work, the Lady Dragons look poised to build on last year’s success and make another memorable run in 2025–2026.