ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Headed up by second-year Head Coach Jessica Fey, the 2023 Griffons look to build upon the late-season success from 2022, punctuated by the team's first statement win over a ranked opponent since 2017.

The Griffons start the new season this week on Thursday, Aug. 31, in Springfield, Illinois. Despite going 11-18 overall and 8-12 in the MIAA, Missouri Western ended the 2022 regular season on a three-match winning streak. Beating Newman and Emporia State 3-1, the Griffs picked up serious steam by taking a 3-1 win away from No. 17 Washburn -- Fey's alma mater -- on MWSU's Senior Day.

Missouri Western ended its season with a loss to No. 12 Nebraska Kearney, the eventual MIAA Tournament runner-up that lost to Washburn in the championship. Even though the Griffs wanted greater results to end 2022, their momentum carried into the offseason and helped cement a foundation for the future.

"I think our last 10 games in the fall were probably the best games we played all year," Fey said. "When you're not winning a ton, it's really easy to give up, and we didn't give up, we didn't settle. We played some of our best volleyball in the fall, which is huge from a minimum standpoint, and going into the offseason, we were able to train a little bit harder. It's also encouraging for incoming freshmen knowing that we ended on a high note."

TRAITS OF THE TEAM
The 2023 team, consisting of 16 players, will feature an even split of returners and freshmen, a three-person coaching staff and a hall-of-fame induction for the head honcho. Later this season, on Oct. 7, Fey will be inducted into Washburn's Hall of Fame. In the meantime, she will mold the newcomers into true Griffons.

Luckily for the coaching crew, this batch of eight freshmen already possess a winning philosophy.

"It's a lot of teaching," Fey." It's a lot of getting people on the same page, but the eight freshmen we have are extremely talented freshmen. They come from successful high school or club programs, so their mindset is just to win. Just being able to have that winning mindset more consistently and kind of forgetting whatever happened in the past just to let it die there."

Among the eight returners for MWSU are senior hitter Danielle Moje and junior setter Nessa Johnson, experienced program veterans. Moje is a two-time All-MIAA player, making the first team and leading MWSU with 300 kills in 2022. Johnson's 1,116 career assists stand eighth overall in team history during the rally-scoring era. Meanwhile, Moje's 61 solo blocks are fourth all-time.

For the first time in their careers and Fey's time at MWSU, the team will have two additional assistant coaches: Izzy Enna and Ami Dias. Enna enters her third season at MWSU after playing for Iowa State from 2017-2020. Dias joined the program this summer, a member of the team during the 2020-21 season and a setter for Johnson County Community College from 2018-2020.

Even though it's something new for Fey to re-adjust to, she has no complaints.

"It's weird. It's really weird," Fey laughed. "I find myself actually being able to delegate some things, being able to actually sit back and practice and just watch instead of having to be so hands-on like I had to be last year. I have a great staff. Izzy's been here since I started, so I trust her fully with everything that she has to say. She does a lot of our passing and defense, thanks to her playing background. Ami's added a great element with her setting experience for our setters. Being able to have a strong staff was always important to me when I got here, and I think that we definitely have that this year."

ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD TOURNAMENT
Illinois-Springfield - Aug. 31
The Griffons open up the Illinois Springfield Tournament against the hosts themselves. Thursday's matchup starts at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on the GLVC Network, as will all matches. The Prairie Stars went 12-13 in 2022, losing in the first round of the Great Lake Valley Conference Tournament. Missouri Western is 4-0 all-time vs. UIS, beating them in 2009, 2010, 2017 and 2018. No match against the Stars has ever gone to a fifth set.

McKendree - Sept. 1
Back bright and early at 11 a.m. on Friday, the Griffs take on McKendree in the Bearcats' season opener. Missouri Western has also never lost to the 'Cats, beating them 2-1 in 1984 and 3-0 in 2018. McKendree went 9-16 in 2022, missing out on the postseason.

Arkansas Tech - Sept. 1
Missouri Western's first doubleheader of 2022 continues at 3 p.m., tangling with Arkansas Tech. The Golden Suns were just 8-22 in 2022, ending the season on a three-match losing streak yet still making the Great American Conference Tournament. The Griffs are 6-3 all-time vs. Tech, first playing in 1983 and winning the last two matchups in 2003 and 2005. 

Texas A&M International - Sept. 2
Ending their stay in Springfield, the Griffs will do battle with Texas A&M International for just the second time ever. Missouri Western beat the Dustdevils 3-0 in 2011 in another neutral-site tourney. International had a solid 2022 season, tallying a 23-8 record and an appearance in the semifinal round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament.

CONSTRUCTING CONFIDENCE
Missouri Western's last winning season occurred in 2019 -- a 17-13 record overall and an 11-9 mark in the MIAA. Fey is no stranger to building a winning program. She took over a Western Colorado program in 2018 that won just two matches the previous season and has just six winning seasons in its 41-year history. The decade of the 2010s saw the Mountaineers post a 1-26 season in 2013, a 2-20 season in 2014 and a 2-25 record in 2017.

Fey helped return the program to respectability, increasing the team's winning percentage in her four years at the helm. In 2021, she led the Mountaineers to a 13-14 record, the program's third-highest single-season wins total in nearly two decades. 

For Fey, it's all about building up her young players and meshing them with the returners to build a consistent and cohesive unit. Once Fey's group catches fire, the sky is the limit for the Griffons. 

"I think that confidence is everything for this young group," Fey said. "We're going to have to play great to get those W's that we want. We have the ability to do that. We need to establish confidence and feel really good about ourselves and establish a lineup that we can take into conference play and get that lineup as much experience as possible."