After losing 19 years of cumulative varsity experience, the Central Washington University volleyball team will get its first look at the future up-and-coming players.

Five seniors graduated off the team, four of them being four-year varsity players and one being a three-year player.

Out of the 1,000 total sets played last season, the seniors played in 390 of them.

In overall scoring per set, these five seniors contributed 40 percent of the points, or 10 of the 25 needed to win a set.

Three-time GNAC first-team setter Catie Fry will be one of the biggest losses for the Wildcats. Fry has played in 101 games over her career. Fry had 1,106 assists last season, with the next closest at 60, while also getting 105 kills.

Outside hitter and middle blocker Linden Firethorne was the kills leader last season, with 378, for a per-set average of 3.53. She also led the team with 27 service aces. She had the second-most digs on the team with 226.

2015 GNAC honorable mention middle blocker Kaitlin Quirk was the last significant loss for the Wildcats. Quirk was second on the team in blocks with 137, one short of being tied for first, while attacking-wise she had 210 kills.

The other two seniors were outside hitter Rachel Hanses and middle blocker Ashtyn Mann.

With all these significant losses, who will be stepping in for these long-time players?

A front-runner for replacing Fry is redshirt sophomore setter Kelly McClung, who was the backup setter playing in one game last season.

“She’s been doing a nice job as the understudy. Time will tell in that role as the leader,” head coach Mario Andaya said.

Replacing Firethorne, Quirk and Mann at the middle blocker will be senior Erin Little and redshirt sophomore Sarah Joffs.

“We’ve had such good middles [blockers] and we can only play two middles at a time,” senior outside hitter Kiah Jones said. “So we’ve had really good backups, they’ve just never had their time to shine.”

Little has played 24 games total for the Wildcats, getting 43 kills, with a career high last season of 14 games played and 28 kills.

Joffs has played in two games in her CWU volleyball career.

“It is kind of a question mark on paper, but to us we’ve seen these guys train the last couple years and it’s their time,” Andaya said. “They’ve been training hard. They’re buying into the things we need to do to prove ourselves again.”

With Little being the only Wildcat with in-game experience, all of the future starters have been playing against the top players on the team over the last few seasons.

“I think they’re game ready, but only time will tell and see where it takes us,” Andaya said.

CWU is bringing back junior GNAC first-team middle blocker Sabrina Wheelhouse. She was ninth in the country in blocks per set with 1.35. She had 182 kills and 2.54 points per set.

Coming into their 2016 campaign, Andaya believes he will see a more mature player out of Wheelhouse. He thinks she will have to be stronger on the court, because now every team in the GNAC will prepare for a 6-foot-3-inch middle blocker.

“She knows she can be a lot better, but she knows she’s pretty special now,” Andaya said.

Jones was an honorable mention last season. She has played in 57 games in three seasons and is coming off a career best with 265 kills and 106 digs.

Andaya compliments her Best in the West Region attacking ability, while her blocking ability was top-notch for her position.

“We expect the leadership element out of someone like her—she’s been through it,” Andaya said. “Not only has she shown herself worthy on the court–-she’s showing it in her training and all the off-court stuff too.”

Other notables are sophomore outside hitter Madison Weg, who played in 27 games, recording 155 kills, and senior outside hitter Lindsey Milner, who led the team with 417 digs, averaging 3.86 per set.

“We’re doing things that are really different than we’ve done before,” Jones said. “Speaking in rotation wise we’re going to have a really new look to our team then in the past couple of years.”

Last season, CWU (20-8, 16-4 GNAC) finished tied for third place behind Alaska Anchorage University and Western Washington University while tying Northwest Nazarene.

“When I look at us playing those teams that beat us, I don’t think that they are better than us,” Jones said.

Playoff-wise, in 2015 CWU lost in five sets to California State University-San Bernardino, a team CWUl is familiar with. Since 2002, CWU has a 2-6 overall record against them, with five of the losses eliminating the Wildcats from the playoffs.

“You’re going all the way from Hawaii to southern California—those are hotbeds in volleyball,” Andaya said.

CWU has been eliminated in the first playoff the last four years. Overall, the Wildcats have only won one playoff game in 14 years, having an overall playoff record of 1-7.

Jones is unsure what push they need to win a tournament game.

“One thing that helps us is that we have experience–-we know what it’s like to be there and we definitely know what it feels like to lose that first game, it’s an awful feeling going that far knowing you can do it, then you lose that one game and you’re done,” Jones said.