The Orange Lutheran girls beach volleyball program is back on the sand and has a new coaching staff this season, led by head coach Kris Johnson.
 
Coach KJ brings a number of years of playing and coaching experience to OLu, including time with AVP Beach Volleyball and USA Beach Volleyball. His focus for the Lancers is overall athlete development.
 
"I want to make sure that athletes are progressively improving over the course of the season," says Johnson. "As we work on things we need to improve on, we've got to put a lot of time into that."
 
This year, the Lancers will field about 40 athletes across three teams, including frosh/soph, JV and varsity. Many of this season's players are from OLu's indoor program, and the varsity roster will see several returners, including senior Caitlyn Fuehrer and juniors Jaedyn Houston, Jayden Santos and Kayla Spencer.
 
OLu is slated for CIF-SS Division 1 this season, and in addition to Trinity League contests, the Lancers will face a number of local opponents including Crean Lutheran, El Dorado and Laguna Beach. With significant depth and experience, the Lancers are prepared to make a strong push for a postseason run.
 
"I don't discount anyone, and I expect every team that we play to be good," says Johnson. "I'll be pushing to make sure that we're going to play as good as we can, no matter who we're playing."
 
The season kicks off for the Lancers this week when OLu travels to Newport Harbor on February 14 and then hosts Esperanza at the Great Park on February 15.
 
Johnson is eager to get started, and the goals for the Lancers this year will be overall improvement and coming together as a team.
 
"I'm looking forward to progression," says Johnson. "I always like to see people get better…I like to see the athletes get better and improve, and more importantly, I want them to like playing with each other because it's so important. I'm excited to see how they do."