Gene Schallenberg
NEW WAVERLY — They came out in bunches.
Approximately 25 girls in all, plenty more than New Waverly head volleyball coach Stacy Hill had anticipated, came out for the team’s first practice Monday morning.
With so many players at Hill’s disposal, returning starters will have to step up their game in order to lock down their positions for the upcoming season. The Lady Bulldogs are also going to have the luxury of fielding freshman, junior varsity and varsity teams for the first time.
“We’ve got a lot of girls that we can utilize,” Hill said Tuesday. “A lot of them play the same position, so they’re having to battle for where they’re going to play.
“I think it’ll help us because we’re going to have more opportunities to have more teams. It pushes girls, too. Those girls that are kind of on the lower level, but they really, really love the sport and they want to play, it gives them an extra boost to work twice as hard. I have two middle hitters that really want to be on varsity, and they work really hard every day trying to get there,” the coach added. “I’m excited about having three teams for the first time. It just shows that our program is really growing.”
Along with plenty of competition, the Lady Dogs have also improved on the court after a lot of the players spent their summer playing club volleyball in North Zulch.
“The cohesiveness of this team is much better than any other team I’ve coached in the past,” Hill said. “They all talk and all get along. They’re clicking a lot better than I thought they would.”
Without a coach to guide them this summer, the Lady Dog veterans had to improvise and instruct the younger players.
“It improved us a lot,” senior hitter Mallory Eastland said. “We didn’t have coach Hill there so it was just us working off each other and telling each other what to do. We were in charge of the younger teams, too. We told them where to go. It was just a matter of figuring everything out.
“We’re very close now and we’re able to work well with each other. We talk off each other and feed off each others’ strengths. We know how each other plays. The dynamic is good since we’ve all been playing together for so long.”
Another plus from playing in the summer league was the freshmen got a head start on playing in games with the upperclassmen.
“The freshmen had time to play with the varsity girls for a couple of games,” senior setter Alena Salinas said. “I think it helped us because we had to work with each other. We didn’t have anyone directing us, so we had to step up as leaders and show these girls what to do.”
Before beginning the 2009 campaign at Grapeland on Aug. 25, New Waverly will scrimmage Hearne, Coldspring and Onalaska on Saturday morning at Bulldog Gym.
“We’re very excited for the scrimmage,” Eastland said. “I think we’ll do well. Today was the first time we played as a team on the court. We talked a lot more than we did last year. We’re looking really good right now.”
The Lady Dogs have plenty of high hopes going into the season. From the seniors on down to the freshmen, making the playoffs is a goal they hope can be reached this season.
“I think we’re a tighter group than we were last season. This year I think we’re really close and can do a lot,” Salinas said.
