Bryan Winegeart Set to Lead Katrina Kastmo, All Saints Volleyball Into 2012

TYLER -- When Cristy O’Bannon stepped down as Tyler All Saints’ volleyball coach, she left the program to assistant Bryan Winegeart.

And it’s in good shape.

Led by senior outside hitter Katrina Kastmo, the Lady Trojans hope to improve on last season which ended one win from the state tournament.

“I have very, very high expectations,” said Winegeart, who has spent the last two season as the junior varsity coach. “As my first year as head coach, I would love to make it to the state round. I think we have the ability.”

A lot depends on Kastmo, the younger sister of Texas A&M volleyball player Alisia Kastmo. As a junior, Katrina racked up 513 kills and 124 blocks.

Winegeart said Katrina attended several college camps over the summer and has already picked up one offer from Division II Texas Woman’s University.

“Katrina’s our only senior and so I expect a lot of her,” Winegeart said. “I’m expecting a lot out of her playing-wise, but the big thing that I challenged her with is being a leader off the court and encouraging her teammates.”

Providing support for Kastmo will be a talented trio of juniors -- setter Maddie Smith, outside hitter Lanna Johnson and middle blocker Madeline Wynne.

“We have a great supporting cast for Katrina this year,” Winegeart said. “They’re all three going to be very big contributors.”

Winegeart knows his team’s offensive attack is there, but wants to focus most of his attention on the defensive side.

“We’ve got to be able to compete with these teams that can also hit it as hard as we can hit and be able to get the ball back up and continue rallies,” he said. “Our main focus this year is going to be defense and serve-receive.”

All Saints opens the season Aug. 14 with a dual match against Sabine and Big Sandy at Sabine High School.