With their first game set for next week, T.R. Miller Lady Tiger volleyball head coach Greg White said his team’s practices are still going very well—even with several of his players doing other duties right now.
“We have several girls who are involved in more than volleyball,” White said. “We have a few cheering, a few in the band and a few running cross country. They are all handling being involved in more than one activity at the same time very well. Right now we are able to make it all work and hopefully it will pay off for us in the long run.”
White said he is looking to replace some players lost from last year’s team that set a school record.
“We lost five players off of last year’s team that set a school record for wins with 24,” he said. “We have five seniors that we are counting on to step up and into their roles as senior leaders. Right now they are doing a nice job of that. We are also counting on some other young players to grow into their roles and become everyday contributors to the team.”
With all that said, White said as a team, there is still a lot of work to do skill-wise and execution-wise.
“The younger players are really starting to understand the team concept,” he said. “We have some work ahead of us, but I really like the direction in which this team is heading right now.”
T.R. Miller is scheduled to have a scrimmage Friday night in Brewton and begin their season Thursday, Aug. 23 in Flomaton.
W.S. Neal:
With just a few days left before their 2012 season opener, W.S. Neal Lady Eagle volleyball head coach Jeff Haney is trying to find the right combinations to best fit his team.
“We have had some very productive practices in the last week or so,” Haney said. “Our JV team is learning a great deal and working very hard. We have had a couple of freshmen step up and fill some important roles for us on the JV. Madison Winchester and Emily Cooper are both doing a great job. I’m proud of how far the JV has come in such a short time. We still have to improve on our serves but that is something they are working hard at every day.”
As for the varsity, Haney said his team is right where he thought they would be.
“We are moving some people around to strengthen our positions,” Haney said. “Kaitlin Hadaway is now working as a setter. This really helps us defensively because she gives us an additional blocker when she is up front. Stephanie Lambert is hitting the ball really well. We have to do a little better job controlling the ball on serve receive. We have a little over a week left to get it all fixed and we will be ready for Excel.”
W.S. Neal is scheduled to begin their season Thursday, Aug. 23 in Excel.
JDCC:
Monday marked the first day of school for college students at Jefferson Davis Community College, but it was also the two-week mark until the Lady Warhawk volleyball team will begin their season.
JDCC head coach Misti Nims has 10 returning players from last season coming back. Returning for JDCC will be Kiki Youngblood, Tara Gafford, Jenny Daniels, Tori Bracewell, Nyia Underwood, Amber Huskey, Arissa Bray, Amber McMillan, Sarah Litteken and Shelby Weidenhamer. Incoming freshmen for JDCC this season will be Kayla White, Liz McCrary, and Morgan McCullough.
“Volleyball practice has started off with a bang,” Nims said. “We had two weeks of two to three sessions a day and the girls responded well. Their running times and strength has improved. We have been doing a lot of scrimmaging with a new offense and a serve reception schemes.”
Nims said there have been a few players that have shown improvements in recent practices.
“Our freshman setter, Kayla White, has hit the ground running and has shown great leadership qualities,” she said. “We also had to make some adjustments with middle blocker since we lost one player. Tara Gafford from Flomaton has made the transition well and her opposite, Kiki Youngblood, will provide much needed support with running a quick tempo. As far as other players, they are all still battling for starting roles. We should see just about everyone play during our opening week and then start narrowing down a starting six to eight players before we get into conference.”
The 2012 volleyball team for Jefferson Davis Community College will tip off their season Monday, Aug. 27 with a home game at 6 p.m.
The schedule for JDCC this season shows 20 total games and three tournaments. JDCC will play 10 home games and 10 away games with tournaments scheduled to be played at Pensacola State, Lawson and Wallace State.
JDCC will have 14 conference games against seven conference foes. Conference opponents for JDCC this year include Wallace State, Snead, Faulkner, Lawson, Southern Union, Gadsden and Wallace-Selma.
Here is the complete schedule for JDCC volleyball this season:
•Monday, Aug. 27, University of Mobile-JV, Home, 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Aug. 28, Gulf Coast, Home, 6 p.m.
• Friday-Saturday, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, Pensacola State College Tournament, Away, TBA
• Tuesday, Sept. 4, Pensacola State College, Away, 6 p.m.
• Thursday, Sept. 6, Wallace State, Home, 3 p.m.
• Tuesday, Sept. 11, Gulf Coast, Away, 6 p.m.
• Friday, Sept. 14, Sneads State, Home, 6 p.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 15, Lawson State Tournament, Away, TBA
• Tuesday, Sept. 18, Faulkner State, Away, 6 p.m.
• Thursday, Sept. 20, University of Mobile-JV, Away, 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Sept. 25, Pensacola State College, Home, 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 26, Lawson State, Away, 6 p.m.
• Friday, Sept. 28, Southern Union, Home, 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 2, Gadsden State, Away, 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 2, Sneads State, Away, 6:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 4, Gadsden State, Home, 6 p.m.
• Monday, Oct. 8, Faulkner State, Home, 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 10, Wallace-Selma, Away, 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 16, Wallace-Selma, Home, 6:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 18, Wallace State, Away, 6 p.m.
• Friday-Saturday, Oct. 19-20, Wallace State Tournament, Away, TBA
• Tuesday, Oct. 23, Lawson State, Home, 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 25, Southern Union, Away, 6:30 p.m.
• Friday-Saturday, Nov. 2-3, Region Tournament, TBA, TBA