In his first year at the helm of the Catasauqua girls’ volleyball program, head coach John Cesanek took a fleeting program that has been struggling for years and produced a district playoff team. Even though the Rough Riders were swept by Notre Dame (3-0), it was just a matter of getting there.

Last season, the Roughies had a core of returning players and had lofty expectations. However, a late-season slide saw them slip away from district contention.

Now, in year three, Cesanek will look to re-establish stability back into the program. Taking the first step in the North Catasauqua volleyball league will be the first step.

Cesanek welcomed 39 girls into the program this summer and will build this year’s squad around senior Kara Gruver and juniors Makayla Bird and Maliya Walp, the lone returning starters who will work to raise the Roughies past the six-win total that has been their high mark the past two years.

At the time of this story, the girls were hovering around the .500 mark this summer. Yet, Cesanek also has sense of reality.

“This is going to be a huge transition year for us,” he said. “We lost six seniors and have three varsity players returning. But we do have a powerhouse of sophomores moving up.”

Overall, Cesanek has been impressed with the influx of young talent. The team recently began open gym workouts to further help hone their skills.

“The girls are actually doing pretty well,” he beamed. “We still have quite a few powerhouses when it comes to serving, but we will be short with defense and setting this year. We had 15 girls show up and a lot of them were new, so there was a lot to learn in terms of new faces and techniques for many of them.

“We do have girls that are interested in those positions, so we will have our work cut out for us. But we have had a good turnout to work with.”

Still, the main mission remains obvious.

“Of course, the biggest concern after losing so many seniors is rebuilding the group, and we do have a lot of players,” added Cesanek. “Unfortunately, we have to teach them court position and who’s responsible for what, but this is summer league.”