John Yanek is entering his 29th season of coaching high school volleyball and needs 21 wins to reach 400 career victories.

For Yanek, the season and the milestone are on pause as we all deal with the coronavirus, but after a 20-5 season last spring Freedom had some holes to fill entering 2020.

“We had several major positions to fill after graduation,” said Yanek. “Those positions seem to be filled with underclassmen and some seniors who played club in the off season.”

Returning players for the Pates include David Barnes (Sr., OH), Ryan Crew (Sr., MB), Yianni Hahalis (Sr., libero).

Newcomers are Jason Ziobro (So., MB), Brandon Brinker (Sr., OH) and Zach Boncher (Sr., setter).

“We have a much better team attitude this year and no toxic players,” said Yanek. “We worked hard and progressed as a team. We should make EPC’s and districts and be a formidable foe.”