When you look up at the wall at Central Lakes College, you see three volleyball national championships. Head volleyball coach Jane Peterson has her Raiders ranked number one in the country again, but she doesn’t care about the team’s ranking at the start of October.

“If it were the end of the season and we were number one, that would be really meaningful to me,” Peterson said.

CLC was 17-1 entering tonight, and it’s not just because of one player.

“Offensively, we spread the ball around, we don’t always rely on the same person,” Peterson said. “So, I think defending us is hard because people don’t know where the ball is going.”

In fact, two freshmen, Maggi Fellerman and Sydney Berg, lead the team in kills, and at the junior college level, it’s essential for freshmen to step up.

“At first, they were a little shy,” Carlie Schroeder, Sophomore Defensive Specialist, said. “But they’ve proved that this is their team as well, and a lot of them have stepped up and been great leaders.”

It’s been four weeks since the Raiders were announced as the top team in the nation, but they are not getting caught up in the hype.

“Today, we just focus on who we are playing – which is Northland – and to play our best,” Schroeder said. “Just focus on this game and only this game at the moment.”

“We definitely need to remember that we are trying to get better every day,” Paige Wallevand, Sophomore Setter, said. “That’s our main focus at practice is that we are not there just to maintain, but to get better.”

But at the end of the day, a national championship is the ultimate goal.

“That would be amazing, it would be like leaving our legend here,” Wallevand said.

“They have the potential to have what it takes,” Peterson said. “Do they have it right now? No. So, we will be working towards that.”

But for now, they can enjoy that number one ranking as they make a push towards the national tournament in November.

By — Anthony Scott