Heading into the 2024-25 school year, new Leland varsity volleyball Coach Travis Baker said he and the team are ready to give it their best embarking on another busy season.
While Baker is taking on the head coach position for the first time, he’s been assisting with coaching volleyball at Leland for about 14 years now. He was the junior varsity coach as well as a longtime assistant for the varsity volleyball team for some years before taking on the reins from former head coach Laurie Glass, who led the Leland Comets to win multiple state championships and accolades during her 29 season tenure.
News of Baker taking over the position was announced last year from Glass herself at the MHSAA Division 4 state championships, where the Comets fell to Clarkston Everest Collegiate 3-2. Following the legacy Glass left over her decades of coaching, Baker said he thinks it will be a challenging season, but they’re aiming to do their best to improve as much as they can moving forward.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity and excited to take over the program,” Baker said. “We’re really process focused, my only goal is to be as good as we can be. That doesn’t have anything to do with wins or losses or points or anything. We’re just trying to work hard and get as good as we can get.”
One thing Baker said he took away from following in Glass’ footsteps is the ability to work with students as they practice and focus on being the best they can be.
“I think the biggest thing is the capacity to relate to the athletes and work with athletes in a way that they can connect to and improve,” he said.
This fall, the Comets have nine students on the varsity team, an increase from the previous season. Two are returnees, seniors’ Abby Hicks and Kally Sluiter, while the six other new students, four juniors and three freshman, have either played middle school or junior varsity last year.
All Michigan high school sports started again on August 12, with Baker adding that the first week of practice just wrapped up and went great. Leading up to the fall season, the team hosted a skills camp this summer, as well as traveled to Ferris State for a team camp.
The team is readying for its first opening tournament this Saturday, Aug. 24, which will host a number of top team opponents at its high school gym. Following the Leland invite, the Comets have an upcoming game set for Thursday, Sept. 5 against St. Francis High School in Traverse City. To view the full upcoming games schedule for the Leland Comets, go to lelandpscomets.bigteams.com/ main/teamschedule/id/3660121/ seasonId/4833942.
