The Aberdeen Central volleyball team begins a season-long journey next week that it hopes will end on the big stage in November.

The Golden Eagles, who open the season Tuesday at Brookings, are looking to return to the Class AA State Volleyball Tournament for the first time since a sixth-place finish in 2020. Coach Jackie Bindenagel said the team expects to be competitive throughout the season.

“We feel like with a lot of these kids having a ton varsity experience, that we’re going be competitive in a lot of matches that maybe we weren’t last year. They’ve just got that year of experience under their belt,” Bindenagel said. “We always want to be at the top of the ESD and get into that (state) tournament.”

Despite losing four seniors, Central returns several players that will be key to the team’s success, including senior outside hitter Grace Kuch and freshman Lauren Burckhard.

“On the outside, Grace Kuch and Lauren Burckhard both saw time last year,” Bindenagel said. “Grace has been a starter since she was a freshman.”

Seniors Ashley Wangler and Taryn Nieman will anchor the middle of the team, while Ayrlie Waldo, Sawyer Bahr, and Madison Miller also return with experience. Olivia Miller and Caydi Withers will be newcomers to the court for the Golden Eagles this season.

Bindenagel said there are still more girls that could see playing time as the season progresses.

“We’re still figuring out if we’re doing a 6-2 or 5-1, so we’re working on those rotations and where the pieces fit together,” Bindenagel said. “We’ve got just a bunch of young kids doing a really nice job. There’s a few more pieces to go into the puzzle, we just don’t know who they are yet.”

When it comes to the schedule, Bindenagel does not focus on any specific opponents, but noted the ESD and Sioux Falls schools are on her team’s radar.

“We always approach those ESD games (and) we just want to play well against those other teams,” Bindenagel said. “Sioux Falls schools are always tough. They just seem to reload every year. We played well with them last year. Those are matches we look forward to. (It’s) just a big challenge every time we step on the court.”

Central has been preparing for those challenges in the offseason by participating in a team camp this summer.

“We did a really big camp in June. It’s called Gold Medal Squared,” Bindenagel said. “They brought in some clinicians and spent a week in the gym. It was like 8-5 every day and we had really good attendance at that.”

The team hosted well-attended open gyms throughout the summer as well.

“Our open gyms, we met twice a week and we averaged probably between 30 and 40 (kids) at every single open gym,” Bindenagel said. “So, we had a lot of kids really committed to getting better this summer.”

With all the progress made throughout the summer, Bindenagel said the goals for the season are simple.

“Ultimately we want to get into that state tournament and be playing our absolute best volleyball in November,” Bindenagel said. “We really feel like with this crew we could kind of get ourselves back on the map a little bit at the state tournament. These kids are pretty determined to play as late as we can into November.”