The message is succinct and clear.

Don’t count out the Kentwood High volleyball team.

On paper, some might look past the Conquerors this fall, after all, they graduated half of last year’s first-team All-South Puget Sound League North Division squad. Gone are Jessie Genger, Lauren Campbell, Stephanie Shumaker and Katie Grajewski. All were first-teamers, Genger and Campbell were even the North Division’s co-MVPs.

All four along with Jocy McKenzie, who now is competing at Green River, are playing in college these days, which tells you a little something about the program.

But while many of Kentwood’s stars have moved on to bigger things, the program will remain on the same level as before, coach Bil Caillier insists.

“I think we’re going to be better than a lot of people think,” said Caillier, who enters his eighth season with a 187-56 overall record, a mark that includes five straight state berths and four consecutive league titles. “I don’t know where it all starts. We score everything in practice. We try and make competition with everything we do. I think by the time the players get to varsity, they know how to compete.”

Of course, the Conquerors are – and have been for quite some time – about more than just competing. This is a program built on success. Matter of fact, this year’s team will enter league play on Sept. 23 having won 51 straight North Division matches.

A big part of that success stems from the program’s overall depth. When one star player graduates, another one or two comes up from the junior varsity and blossoms.

“There’s just a different mentality when you’re in a program that has been winning for a lot of years,” explains Caillier, who guided the Conquerors to a 31-3 overall record and third-place finish at state last year.

Which helps explain how the Conquerors can still be considered a North Division favorite despite graduating most of its heavy hitters. Instead of rebuilding this season, Kentwood will do what it has done the last several years – reload. For the Conquerors, that reloading means players who didn’t have as big of role last year – like Erin Campbell, Elle Mortensen, Lychelle Roberts-Kirby and Ally Patterson – will be asked to take a big step forward this year.

And just like every year since taking over the program in 2002, Caillier have confidence putting these girls on the floor.

“Our approach is just to get better, that’s our goal every year,” Caillier said. “I’m optimistic.”

But is there enough firepower to advance to state for a sixth straight season?

“Absolutely,” the coach said.

Succinct and clear enough.

SPSL NORTH: AT A GLANCE

Favorites: Kentwood, Auburn Riverside.

Contenders: Kentlake, Kent-Meridian.

Look out for: Kentridge.

Notable: Kentwood enters the season on a 51-match SPSL North winning streak, but graduated standouts Jessie Genger (Gonzaga University), Lauren Campbell (Northern Arizona), Stephanie Shumaker (Lewis & Clark State) and Kate Grajewski (Idaho State). … Sally Eager, who most recently coached at Renton High, has taken over for Kim Zorn at Tahoma. Zorn, who stepped down at the end of last season, spent five years with the Bears. … Auburn Riverside’s Brooke Bray is the lone returning first-team all-leaguer in the SPSL North. … Kentlake has finished second to Kentwood in league play for four straight years. The league only returns to second-team all-leaguers: Cherene O’Hara (Kent-Meridian) and Aryn McCarthy (Kentlake). Kent-Meridian and Kentridge each return a league-high four starters. … Kentlake (3), Auburn Riverside (2) and Kentwood (4) have accounted for the last nine SPSL North titles. … With Nicole Faircough (libero), Jaclyn Onosko (opposite side), Manisha Walia (middle blocker) and Kelsey Kirkland (outside hitter) all returning, Kentridge has the firepower to challenge the heavyweights. … Kentridge’s Ashley Nguyen, a first-team all-leaguer last year, is now competing at Highline Community College. Former teammate Marissa Fujimoto is now playing at Bellevue CC.

Outlook: More than any season in the past five years, the SPSL North has a new look this year. Why? Because of the extreme wealth of talent that has graduated. Auburn Riverside and Kentwood were listed as the favorites in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Ravens return the league’s top player in Bray, but until somebody knocks them off, something that hasn’t happened since 2004, the Conquerors are the team to beat.