By Tom Waddill
Let the fun begin. Bring on the large, loud crowds, the bigger gyms and the pressure-packed playoff atmosphere.
New Waverly volleyball coach Stacy Hill says her Lady Bulldogs are fired up and ready for whatever comes next.
Before they head into the Class 2A state playoffs, though, they have some unfinished business to take care of. Tied with Anderson-Shiro for second place in District 21-2A, the Lady Bulldogs must play another match against the Lady Owls to decide playoff seeding.
The tiebreaker match between New Waverly and Anderson will take place Saturday at 3 p.m. in the main gym at Madisonville High School.
“The girls are really, really excited,” Hill said Wednesday evening. “As a coach, you don’t want anything to distract your team. We’ve got homecoming on Friday night, so the girls were worried about playing Friday and being in a rush to get to homecoming. It was going to be rough on us playing on Friday. That’s a distraction we didn’t really want.
“Now we have nothing to worry about Saturday except getting there and playing.”
Hill said she’s pumped about the Lady Bulldogs and their playoff possibilities. The coach believes playing district rival Anderson in what amounts to a warm-up match Saturday will do nothing but help her team prepare for the postseason.
“The gym in Madisonville is a lot like Centerville. It’s bigger and it’s going to be a lot louder than what our girls are used to,” Hill said. “We’ve never been in a playoff situation before, so this will be the perfect situation for a warm-up match.
“We’ll get a taste of what the playoffs are like.”
