-
Seniors on the volleyball team.
The White County Lady Warriors did some big things on the volleyball court during the 2020 season. Starting this week, we'll find out if they can do it again this fall.
The Lady Warriors tipped off the new season Tuesday by splitting a pair of games in Gainesville. WCHS knocked off West Hall in straight sets, but dropped a 2-1 decision to Chestatee in three sets.
Last fall, the Lady set a school record with 24 wins, finishing second in the Area 7-AAA tournament and made their another trip to the Sweet 16 round of the state tournament.
The program also climbed into the regular season Top 10 among Class AAA programs for the first time, rising as high as the No. 6 spot.
Graduation is a part of high school sports, and the Lady Warriors definitely have to deal with the loss of four key players from last year's unit. Jenna Ash was the 7-AAA Player of the Year, while Dasha Cannon made the All-Region team. Shelby Spain was one of the team's top hitters, and Macy Boggs played a key role on the back line.
But despite the changing personnel, WCHS head coach Shannon Smith believes this year's version has a great opportunity to make another run at an area title and can be a force in the Class AAA tournament.
“Yeah, I’m going to miss those girls, they were awesome on and off the court,” says Smith, who coaches the team along with assistant Yarixa Oakes. “We actually had some seniors that have stepped up this year.”
Smith said the players understand they must play as unit in order to reach their lofty goals.
“Our team motto is synergy; our girls came up with that,” Smith said. “It means when two or more things coming together create a better effort than one individual effort. That's really crucial in volleyball, they all have to work together. All six girls on the court have to be willing to work together. It just means we have to be willing to work together on the court, whatever six players are out there. With a roster of 15 players, that's a lot of personalities, and I can honestly say no matter how we mix them up, the girls are willing to play together. That's a real positive for this team.”
The Lady Warriors knocked off East Jackson in a pre-season scrimmage last week and then jumped head first into the regular season schedule Tuesday night. The Lady Warriors play a tough early season non-area schedule, including games against Flowery Branch, Lanier, Morgan County, Jefferson, Lakeview, and Winder-Barrow in hopes of being prepared for area and state play.
“Since we are hoping to make a deep playoff run and make the Final 4, we are going to play our top players from the get go,” Smith said. “We play some strong teams early in the season, and we treat the non-area games just like they are area games. We'll play our best six on the court. We'll use a lot of players just because of the rotation and the way we are playing with a libero this year, but we'll use our top players. That's just the nature of varsity sports. We'll play competitively from day one.”
The Lady Warriors were missing a couple of starters for the scrimmage, which gave some other players a chance to compete in a varsity setting.
“We didn't have all our starters playing, so it was kind of cool to how everyone stepped up,” Smith said. “It was good for us heading into the season. It was good to be in a game scenario and see what we have when some key players aren't on the court.”