‘You have to have that confidence’: Raiders bring swagger, experience to volleyball court

QUINCY — Danielle White feels like she is right where she belongs, but sometimes it doesn’t seem real.

“I catch myself like, ‘Is this really happening?’” White said.

The former Carthage Middle School volleyball coach took the reins of the Quincy Notre Dame program in March, and from the first day she stepped foot on campus, she has felt right at home.

“The Notre Dame community has been exceptional and very welcoming to my family, so I’m very thankful to be here and I’m very excited,” White said.

That excitement is only amplified by this squad’s potential.

“There’s just a different vibe about this group,” White said.

That stems from a confidence, swagger and looseness the Raiders play with that White said is fed by an infectious competitiveness.

“Yes, they have that swagger to them, but it’s something I’m really looking forward to working with,” White said. “It’s not arrogance. You can just tell they have that volleyball IQ and work ethic instilled in them. Those two things combined together are pretty neat as a coach.”

Senior setter Annie Eaton said the best teams always have some of that swagger.

“I think that’s important in the game of volleyball,” Eaton said. “You have to have that confidence, believe in yourself and tell yourself, ‘I can win these big games and perform in big moments.’”

Eaton is part of a senior class that has played in plenty of those big moments. Since 2021, the Raiders have compiled a 99-14 record and haven’t lost a West Central Conference match, but last season’s much-earlier-than-planned exit in the Class 2A regional championship has the Raiders starving for renewed postseason success.

“It’s just made us hungrier for wins deep in the season,” Eaton said. “It’s a little bittersweet having this be my last year, but I’m just hungry to get to the end, get to the state tournament and win those big games finally.”

Middle hitter Madalyn Boyer, a transfer from Illini West, joins this senior class and reunites with her former coach. Boyer played for White at Carthage Middle School before playing her first three high school seasons at Illini West.

Boyer said she didn’t hesitate about transferring to QND considering her relationship with White and the players on the Raiders’ roster.

“Since I’ve played club with pretty much all of them, I know how they are and how the team works,” Boyer said. “It was pretty easy coming here and joining the school and volleyball team because I know them all. They all make me feel comfortable. It wasn’t really a difficult decision.”

Boyer, now 6-foot-1, was only 5-foot-7 in middle school, so White rotated her throughout the front and back rows.

“She was not the tallest girl, but she has gotten a lot stronger, and her IQ for the game has grown, as well,” White said. “She’s adaptable and will run anything we put in front of her. We started that in middle school where she would run more than just out of the middle, and she just soaks it all up.”

Boyer’s versatility feeds right into White’s vision of having players who can adapt to different positions and situations.

“We’ve really been focusing on our adaptability and understanding, yes you’re a middle hitter, but understanding the other positions and being willing to play those other positions so if something does happen, we have an attack plan versus chaos and how do we control that,” White said. “Just getting them used to, yes, you have the position that you play, but being ready to play another position in case we need to switch our gameplan up, that adaptability has been huge for them.”

The Raiders have put that adaptability on display in learning White’s fast-paced offense.

“I’m trying to put in quicker offenses with them, and they’ve absorbed that,” White said. “They’re like a bunch of sponges, and anything you throw at them, it’s like ‘what can we do, and how can we do it?’”

Having an experienced setter in Eaton and likewise at libero with senior Kourtney Keck expedites the process of implementing a new system.

“Annie and Kourtney, their connection to each other when they pass and set the ball is so fun to watch,” White said. “When it happens, there’s that camaraderie between them, but when it doesn’t happen, they always lift each other right back up to get that next ball or get that next pass or set. That teamwork amongst them is very encouraging.”

Eaton, Keck and the Raiders will begin their quest for a return to the state tournament Aug. 28 against Unity — whose only conference loss in 2023 was to QND — at The Pit.

“(Unity) may be young this year, but they have a lot of flexibility in what they’re able to do,” White said. “That first game, being to execute our plan of what we want to work towards by the end of the season and where we want to be when the postseason comes is something we’re really focusing on.”

As much flexibility as Unity may have, White believes the Raiders have even more.

“Sometimes you have six strong players and that’s what you have, but we’re deep. Having somebody I can throw in if someone isn’t having a good game or even if we just need a taller block, having that deep athletic ability is exciting.”

It’s just one additional thing to be excited about when it comes to QND volleyball.