Beaver volleyball set to start new era under Coach Wastvedt
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A new era begins for the Minot State volleyball team this weekend as first-year head coach Josh Wastvedt leads the Beavers onto the court at the Drury Invitational to open the 2026 season.
"I believed in this program for a long time," said Wastvedt, a graduate of Mayville State who coached high school volleyball at Garrison-Max and served as an assistant at Bismarck State. "I kind of looked and waited for this job for a really long time, and now I'm excited to actually be in this position.
"And I'm just really proud of the way that the girls have responded to the changes," he added, "the things we're doing in practice every day, on and off the court, as well; they've really taken that in, and they're really proud to be a Beaver."
The Beavers get to show off their talent and what they've learned from their new head coach, when they hit the court this Friday and Saturday in Missouri at the Drury Invitational, playing Newman (Kan.) at 9 a.m. on Friday to start the season, then tournament-host Drury at 1 p.m.
Minot State closes out the weekend playing Texas A&M International and Southern Nazarene (Okla.) on Saturday.
"I think the changes really are going to be seen with just the confidence level, the aggression, the finishing plays, finishing matches," Wastvedt said of what's new for this year's team. "And we want to compete at a higher level."
In terms of conference play, the Beavers compete in arguably the best league in the nation in the NSIC, which features 4 teams ranked in the Top 25 to start the season, including No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul.
But that fact doesn't scare Coach Wastvedt, who is raising expectations for his program.
"We want to be aggressive; we think that we should be towards the middle of the pack, at least," he said.
"(We) have talent, so I'm excited for this group to kind of learn how to win, learn how to push against really good teams, against teams that we know we should beat.
"It's no secret, it's the best conference in the nation for a reason," he added. "They compete against them really well, but now it's: Can we finish? Can we get W's?"
According to Wastvedt, efficiency will be key on both sides of the ball: Competing for every ball defensively, making good passes, then being aggressive and finishing attacks.
"Our girls are super athletic, and they're able to move quickly; they're powerful. We create a system that they're able to utilize offensively.
"On the defensive side, it's tenacious; we want to be aggressive. …Ball control is really huge for us; we're a good ball control team, we pass well, that's huge for our success."
Key returners leading the way start with 5-foot-8 junior setter Logan Drennan, who had 282 assists and 127 digs last season.
She'll look to utilize weapons like 5-10 senior outside hitter Caton Pearcy, who had 191 kills and 295 digs, both second-most on the team, and 5-10, 5th-year opposite hitter Katelyn Onespot-Danforth, who had team highs of 196 kills and 38 blocks.
"If (Caton)'s on, we're really, really good," Wastvedt said, adding of Onespot-Danforth, "I kind of call her a silent killer."
Coach Wastvedt also expects good things from 5-10, sophomore middle blocker Kiera Hayes.
Defensively, 5-4 junior libero Maya Vibeto will lead the way after recording a team-high 300 digs last season.
"She has really become this libero that I really think can change our defense," Wastvedt said.
While those returners lead the way, the Beavers also added six talented freshmen who the new coach says are making an immediate impact.
"All six of them come from high-level clubs where they just have such a good background that they automatically raise the level in our gym already."
Two who already have stood out are 5-7 outside hitter Taya McKinna from Regina, Saskatchewan, and 5-11 outside hitter Nicole Lundquist, from Hudson, Wisconsin.
As for this opening weekend, Coach Wastvedt said: "I think, going into this weekend, we're looking to find a little bit more of a consistent groove; serving aggressively, taking them out of system.
"All the teams that were playing have very new rosters compared to last year, so can we use our chemistry a little bit to outplay them?
"We have some greatness here that just hasn't been tapped into, and that’s something that's my job, I need to bring that out of them," Wastvedt said.