This week was the first time I had spoken with Colette Mueller, Cook County’s head volleyball coach, yet she carried the familiar sense of commitment I’ve come to recognize in programs across the North Shore. I quickly felt as though I was talking to an area coach I’d known for years.
Pride runs deep in these rural teams, shaped by long drives to away games, hours spent in gyms far from home, and the loyalty that keeps athletes tied to their communities as much as to their sport. Mueller is in her first year as the varsity coach, with six years of coaching experience behind her, and she speaks from the place where family and team often feel like the same thing.
Mueller didn’t originally enter coaching through a traditional door. She stepped in because the program needed someone, and she stayed because she found something she didn’t want to lose. When her oldest daughter reached fifth grade, the long-time volunteer coaches who had carried the program for years decided they were ready to step back.
It was right after COVID, when so many youth programs were struggling to restart, and volleyball in Cook County was one of them. There was no fifth- or sixth-grade team, no one to run practices, no one to keep the sport alive for the next wave of girls coming through the school.
Mueller looked at her daughter, looked at the empty gym, and stepped forward.
She coached fifth and sixth grade. Then she moved to junior high. Her daughter moved faster than she did, jumping ahead a year or two. She coached JV. She served as assistant varsity coach. And when the head coaching position opened this year, she stepped into it with the same steady sense of responsibility that had carried her through every level of the program.
“I’ve moved up with the same group of girls,” she said. “They know me, and I know them.”
The Vikings are having a standout season, and Mueller is quick to point out that their success is not built on a handful of star players. It’s built on the way they play together. Early in the season, she realized she had forgotten to hand out the traditional “player of the game” necklace after a match. When she brought it to the next game, the girls saw it sitting on the bench and told her they didn’t want it.
“We play as a team,” the girls told her. “It feels weird to tell one person they did better than everyone else.”
Mueller melted in that moment. I did too, listening to her say it.
That moment became a quiet turning point. The girls weren’t just playing well. They were building something. Mueller and the coaches leaned into it, shaping practices around communication, connection, and the idea that mistakes are part of the game, not something to fear.
“We are a no-blame organization,” Mueller said. “Mistakes happen. We move on. We support each other.”
Mueller is quick to credit other coaches in the program, including Reese Wright, the JV coach, who played as a defensive specialist in college and brings a depth of technical knowledge that has strengthened the program. Alyssa Hedstrom is a local dentist who volunteers her time and has become, in Mueller’s words, “the team therapist and psychologist.”
Hedstrom leads visualization exercises before games, helps players navigate mental blocks, and offers the kind of steady, thoughtful support that keeps young athletes grounded.
“I told her we would not be having the success we’re having if she wasn’t part of this program,” Mueller said.
The team’s captains, senior Lauren Berglund and juniors Scarlet Higgins and June Seidel, have stepped into leadership with the same openness. They listen, adjust, and they help bridge the gap between players and coaches when emotions run high or practices get tough. Mueller trusts them, and they trust her.
That trust has carried the Vikings through some tight matches. Five times this season, they’ve gone to five sets and won all five. Against Silver Bay, they were down two sets to none and fought back to win the next three, each one close enough to make the gym feel like it was holding its breath.
“They had to fight for every point,” Mueller said. “And they did.”
The Vikings are on a five-match winning streak, second only to undefeated Cromwell in their section. They won the Bigfork tournament last weekend, beating Hill City Northland, a team ranked several notches above them. They are currently fourth out of ten in their section, sitting in a position that could give them a home playoff game, which is Berglund’s personal goal for the team.
The gym has felt that momentum as attendance has grown. The student section has been loud and positive while families fill the bleachers. Community members with no direct connection to the team show up with their kids and their popcorn, settling in for an evening that feels more like an event than a game.
Several home games have included special events. The “court sisters” mentorship brought fifth- and sixth-grade girls onto the court for introductions, pairing each one with a varsity player. The Dig Pink fundraiser raised two thousand dollars for the local Care Partners program. Parents Night filled the gym with families and applause.
Those younger girls, the ones who ran out with the varsity players, are part of a growing pipeline. Mueller sees it clearly. The seventh, eighth, and ninth graders are committed. The freshmen on varsity this year are both middles, and both are thriving. The juniors will be anchors next season. The program is young, but it is rising.
“There’s momentum,” Mueller said. “And it’s exciting.”
The team is working through how to adjust when facing big blockers. How to move the ball around the court. How to place shots where defenders aren’t. How to win in three sets instead of five. And how to use substitutions not as punishment but as a chance for a player to breathe, reset, and return stronger.
“The kindest thing a coach can do is give you a break,” she said. “You’re going back in. Nobody’s mad at you.”
It’s a simple idea, but it’s powerful. It builds resilience and keeps players from spiraling after mistakes. It reinforces the idea that the team is bigger than any single moment.
Mueller’s pride in her players is unmistakable. She talks about them with the same tone people use when they talk about family. She sees their growth and grit. She sees the way they support each other. And she sees the future of the program stretching out ahead of them, full of potential.
“When we step off the bus, I feel a sense of pride,” she said. “These are my people.”
Her husband teases her, calling the team her “first family,” but she doesn’t deny it. Coaching has become part of her identity, part of her community, and a huge part of her life. She’s grateful to be a part of the program that others worked so hard to keep going.
“I want to thank Jodi and Amy Berglund and the coaches who came before me,” said Mueller. “They kept this program going for years.”
The matches ahead will decide how far this group can go, but the sense of pride around them is already set.
