JOHANNESBURG ― For the past few years, the fall in Johannesburg has been reserved for the volleyball season.
While the Johannesburg-Lewiston Cardinals football team has struggled since 2021, the volleyball program has been one of the best in the Northern Lower Peninsula. The Cardinals have won at least a share of three of the past five Ski Valley Conference Championships, their last coming in 2023.
Last year was a bit of a down year, finishing outside the top four of the final conference standings. Still, heading into 2025 with a mix of veteran upperclassmen and athletic younger players, the Cardinals’ goals remain the same: compete for tournament titles on the weekend, be in the hunt for a league title at the end of the regular season and find success in a difficult postseason bracket.
“I think we have a really good team dynamic in terms of their connections with each other,” said coach Kristine Peppin. “Really nice group of girls who are very hard workers, so I see the chemistry they have as a strong point for us.”
If that chemistry, experience and talent can mix together well, JL fans should feel pretty good about their chances to compete for a conference title yet again in 2025.
Returning talent and new faces blending together
Returning for her 17th season, Peppin has had to do her fair share of team building and rebuilding, having to overcome graduating talents and new personalities mixing together year after year.
This year, however, that blending feels a bit more natural with a group of girls already familiar with each other. Returning Gaylord Herald Times Player of the Year Mady Peppin joins returners Lexi Hogle, Jaeden Briley, Lily Crane, Hailey Bober and Emery Lawes, mixing with newcomers Addison Lake, Olivia Goodwin, Neela Lawes and Ashlynn Burke. Many of these girls have spent time with each other on either the JL girls basketball or softball teams, giving them a team-like mentality without having to put much of their early efforts into teambuilding.
Peppin is perhaps the biggest returning name in the entire Ski Valley, a team leader in kills (357) and blocks (57) while finishing second in aces (80). She was dominant around the net last year, but her coach (and mom) thinks her versatility will stand out this season.
“She keeps bringing another level to her game,” said Kristine Peppin. “She’s hitting harder than she was even at the end of last season, and she’s continuing to make progress and adding coordination, and she keeps growing.”
Senior setter Hogle also returns, bringing talent and stability to the JL lineup as a four-year varsity player and now two-time captain. She led all Otsego County teams with 744 assists and 85 aces in 2024 and, alongside Peppin, should give JL two of the most experienced stars in the league in 2025.
Meanwhile, younger players like Lawes and Bober are also set to get bigger roles in the lineup in 2025 and, coach Peppin said, should help JL improve in an ever-changing Ski Valley Conference.
Back in the Ski Valley Hunt?
JL wasn’t involved in the SVC title hunt late in the 2024 season, a rarity for a team that has made winning the title a habit. The Cardinals nearly three-peated as conference champs after winning back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021, then regained SVC glory by sharing the league title in 2023.
Coach Peppin said it was the little things that ended up hurting their chances the most in 2024, small mistakes that cost the Cardinals in close conference matchups. This year, they hope to put those small mistakes behind them, get on the winning side of those five-set matchups and get back into the conference title race.
“I think the Ski Valley is up for grabs, so it’s going to come down to who has the best game against each team that night,” said Peppin. “I think my goal would be in that top three with the ultimate goal of winning the conference.”
Last year’s champions, Onaway, as well as Inland Lakes and Bellaire, all should be competitive again this season, while a senior-led Gaylord St. Mary team will give many teams trouble. However, the mix of established leaders and new stars could give JL a chance to reclaim the conference title in 2025. Their other goals include making the finals of their weekend tournaments and, hopefully, making some noise in the Division 3 playoff bracket.
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: JoBurg’s mix of returning stars, rising talent hops to bring Cardinals back to SVC glory
Reporting by Dylan Jespersen, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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