Keith Peden understands it’s a work in progress.

The Olympic volleyball coach lost three of his top players from 2008 — outside hitters Megan Rainey and Terrin Day and libero Cayla Lawson — but he also has a few newcomers who he believes will make an immediate impact.

“Except for setting, all the major categories we’re having to fill in with new people,” Peden said.

Among the new talent for 2009 is sophomore Monica Phinney, who steps in at outside hitter. The 5-foot-9-inch Phinney is still learning the nuances of the game, but she is fast and has natural talent. With large shoes to fill in those of Rainey, who led the team in both kills and aces last season, Phinney figures to have a breakout season.

“She has all the tools,” Peden said. “She is still learning the game, but she is going to be a great player.”

Amy Stone shifts from setter to libero and Sam Thornton moves from middle to outside hitter. Peden continues to mix and match and fine tune his lineup, searching for the best combination.

“Every game we’re doing a little bit better,” Peden said. “We’re learning.”

Peden called Oly an “inexperienced, mature team,” meaning it has a lot of seniors, but not as much on-court varsity experience as paper may indicate. The team dropped a match to Wilson 3-2 Tuesday in a back and forth battle that saw the Lady Trojans overcome a 2-1 deficit only to lose 10 of the final 12 points in the deciding fifth game.

“They fought when they needed to. They worked hard, but we had a lot of unforced errors,” Peden said. “In a lot of the games we lost, we’d be almost tied with them and then we’d make an unforced error and they would make a run. It seemed like we could never get over the hump.”

Despite losing the key ingredients from the 2008 squad, which advanced to districts, Peden is confident this year’s team will remain near the top of the Olympic League and vie for a postseason berth.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t,” he said. “I think we’ll be in there, I think we’ll be fighting until the end.”