It’s the question that Molly Hill has heard a few times this year, maybe even asked herself once or twice.
So, now what?
Hill begins her 12th season at Polk County with back-to-back state championships in hand and a rebuilding job ahead. The Wolverines played seven players in November’s state 1A final triumph over Perquimans – six of those graduated in May, including three players now gearing up for their first collegiate seasons.
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So when Polk travels Tuesday to R-S Central to open the 2025 season, it will be a very different group taking the court than faced the Hilltoppers – or anyone else – in recent years.
“There are a lot of openings this season,” Hill said. “A lot of big shoes to fill. So we’re trying to figure out what that dynamic is going to look like and trying things and slowing things down so we can evaluate and look at what is going to be our best scenario.
“We have a lot of options. Where everything was kind of set in stone (in recent seasons), this year there’s so much that’s open. We could do this, or I could try her here. So I’m putting them in different scenarios and lineups and we’ll see how it’s going to play out.”
The roster includes another large senior class of seven, and that group will be tasked with taking on leadership for a squad that has plenty of talent, if not experience.
That senior cohort begins with Charley Dusenbury, the lone returning starter from last year’s 22-3 squad. Dusenbury piled up 740 assists as the Wolverines’ primary setter and has been recognized by several media outlets as one of the area’s top returning players at the position.
Yet how much she’ll actually play there this year remains to be seen.
“We depend on her so much to run our offense,” Hill said of Dusenbury. “I did bring Abby (Lewis) up. She has beautiful hands and just really has that whole setter package. And that gives me an opportunity to put Charley in a different role and put some pressure on her in a different way than I ever have before.
“I told her the first day of practice, you have to hit. She was kind of like, what? And I’m like, yes, you’re going to hit this year. So it’s just retraining her brain into thinking, while I’m on front row, I don’t have to take this second ball. I need to focus on blocking and trying to do something dynamic and big for the hitting.”
Senior Akeela Cunningham saw action last season while standout Sophia Overholt was injured and will be a key part of Polk’s attack this year. She’ll be joined outside by junior Beija Olivari, with sophomores Jill Brown and Elena Greve expected to fill the key role of middle hitter.
Lewis may see some time hitting on the right side along with junior Jessie Bradley and seniors Naomi Martinez and Mahaley Wilson.
Another potential hitter is sophomore Reeve Carroll. But Hill expects Carroll to step into the libero role, a key aspect of the Wolverines’ game plan and the position where Hill played in college.
“I need somebody consistent and powerful on the back row that I can leave in the whole game and have that person there,” Hill said. “You know how I am with that position. I am real picky and I hold them to a really high standard. So I’ve been practicing Reeve at that position and she’s doing great.
“But I also have lineups written out where she is hitting. I know I could put on the outside or the middle. And with Beija, I can do the same thing. So it’s just a lot of options.”
Joining Carroll in the back row will be seniors Riyah Schroyer, Aslyn Scruggs and Junie Mitchell as well as junior Zulum Ramirez. Foreign exchange student Manuela Sanchez could also see time in the back as well as some action as a hitter.
It will be a lot of familiar and new faces in new places, but Hill said she’s not the only coach in the area encountering that scenario.
“(At a scrimmage) I was talking to some other coaches, and they’re in the same boat,” she said. “They’re young, they’ve got freshmen and sophomores starting on varsity, just trying to see what that is going to look like.
“So even for other teams around us, it’s going to be a big puzzle of, OK, what is going to be our best? I talked to the girls about that, that it can change week to week. Who are the six people that we feel are the most comfortable and can get us the win? That’s what we’re going to do.”
One other bit of new this season for Hill really isn’t unfamiliar at all. After four seasons in the Mountain Foothills 7 Conference, Polk County has returned to the Western Highlands Conference, which it dominated for several seasons, as part of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s realignment for 2025-2029. That same process also moved the Wolverines into the 3A ranks as the NCHSAA has expanded from four to eight classifications beginning this season.
Joining the Wolverines back in the WHC is Hendersonville, and the Bearcats could be Polk’s biggest threat with a core group of returnees bolsted by junior transfer Arden Arkansas, who played last season at Brevard.
“I can’t say that I’m thrilled about the long travel, but I am confident,” Hill said of the return to the WHC. “We’re going to have to play Polk County volleyball and play our style. But it is something we’re familiar with, we’ve seen before and we know all these teams.
“So going into it I’m confident, and hopefully it works out in our favor.”
