The volleyball season starts soon with the first day of play on August 14th. Here’s what the coaches had to say about the upcoming season:

What are your expectations/goals for this year?

Apollo head coach Maryanne Howard: We are looking to build off of the momentum that we had at the end of last season. Last year was a rebuilding year for us, and our girls have put in a ton of work during the off season. We are looking to be a contender at the top of our district and region for this season.

Daviess County head coach Tyla Bailey: Our expectation is to compete at a high level. Even though we are fairly young and have several first-time varsity players, we still expect to compete for a district and region title.

Owensboro Catholic head coach Brian Hardison: Our goal is to try and repeat as regional champs and to make it past the first round of state.

 Owensboro head coach Melissa Hibbs: Our goal doesn’t change even though our roster has- compete every game, improve throughout the season, and be ready for the district tournament. Winning games in August is nice, but the goal is to be playing our best volleyball in October and getting a district title. 

Whitesville Trinity head coach Daniel Morris: We are setting our goals pretty high this year. We had an unfortunate early exit from the regional tournament last year, but have been working hard all preseason to get back to the regional championship like we did two seasons ago. 

What will be the biggest challenges on the schedule? 

AHS: Our district and region is very tough this season as there are many tough teams. Any team could win on any given night, so they will be some of the biggest challenges on our schedule.

DCHS: District matches are always a challenge. Our district is pretty solid so it’s imperative we show up ready to compete. Apart from district matches, Trinity, Meade, and Breck are also competitive matches for us.

OCHS: Our biggest challenge in my eyes is not beating ourselves. We know every team we step on the court with is going to give us their best, and it’s up to us to limit our mistakes. 

OHS: We graduated 3 seniors last year that had been on varsity for 4-5 years. Filling these holes will be a learning curve. We have got to be mentally tough to get over the hiccups of the season. We have to stay focused that each game is building to get to the offseason. 

THS: When I make our schedule every year, I like to make it challenging for us through the season, because come postseason playtime we have had that experience with big named schools. There are several high power schools on our schedule this year that we are looking forward to competing with.

Who are your top returning players and why?

AHS: We are returning most of our varsity roster from last season, so we will have a lot of experienced players. Our top front row players coming into this season will be Jennifer Lee, Abie Butterworth, and Ava Fazio. Ahalia Ramirez will be playing a big role returning as our starting setter in her senior season. In the back row sisters Kelsey and Kaley Dickinson and Ella Alvey are solid returning players for us!

DCHS: We Have a quality group of seniors in Kayla Jones, Natalie Petri, Keleigh Payne, and Macie Edge. Each girl has been with the program for a while, but now have an awesome opportunity to go out and play at the varsity level.

OCHS:  Our top returning players are our Setter senior Kennedy Murphy, two outsides senior Blair Riney and junior Tyranda Staurt, middles junior Olivia Castlen and junior Jaiden Grant, DS senior Isabelle Reisz and our libero senior Karsen Tipmore

OHS: Addie Travis- junior middle hitter- looking to her to be a powerhouse for the Devils. She is a big force up front, vocal leader, and has really worked on speed and power in the offseason and is evident coming into season. Ava Fincher- junior setter-  Leader for the devils, her work ethic and determination to get this team to the next level is evident on the court. Volleyball IQ is very high – monster swing to go along with her hands to set. Chase Mather- senior Outside Hitter-vocal leader of the group- chase is no stranger to varsity (5 year varsity player)- she missed a lot of the season last year due to injury, and is looking to make up for that this year as a 6 rotation player.  She is a very versatile player that can turn it on at any minute. Kiersten Taylor- senior outside hitter- big swing up front, works a lot on offseason on different shots and looks to be a major key to our success.

THS: Last year we lost two seniors so fortunately, but I have most of my squad returning. Hannah Nash, Georgia Howard, and Addison Mills are three big hitters returning from last season. Caroline Hall is also returning as my libero, and Sarah Payne is returning as a defensive specialist. I will also have a couple of newcomers that will play big roles in our success this year. Ella Reed and Emily McDaniel will both play roles as hitters in my lineup.

Who do you expect/need to step up and why?

AHS: We are looking for big things this season from Kadi Daugherty who will be playing a big role in the back row for us this season. Avery Gray and Macie King are new players in the front row for us this season that we believe will be doing big things this season as well. 

DCHS: Various players will need to step up this year in order for us to be competitive. Apart from our seniors mentioned above, we will also look to Lauren Jean, Rylan Westerfield, Maya Pollard, Molly Baughmann, and Kristen Harris, among others, to set the tone and make plays for us. We won’t be an overly aggressive or “big” team, but with teamwork and positive energy I am confident in our abilities.

OCHS: Our whole team needs to step up from the seniors to the Sophomores. 

OHS: Coming into this season, we graduated a few seniors and need some younger ones to step up to fill these roles. Returning players will feel the brunt of that role, but look to see Rose Larsen, Mollie Bratcher, Elizabeth Allen, Avery Hayden, and Hitomi Leon step up. They have had limited varsity experience so will be a learning curve, but think they are up to the challenge to adapt to the speed and intensity of the game. 

THS: In order for us to have such a successful season, we will need everyone on the roster to step up and be ready to compete in big situations. These girls have the work ethic and the dedication to get themselves ready for great things to happen this season.

What areas are you hoping to improve on this year and why?

AHS: This year we have been working to elevate our front row play with a faster offense that will highlight our size and agility in the front row. Our goal going into this season is to be the best team we can be and be better today than we were yesterday.  

DCHS: We are hoping to improve consistency among all positions and are placing a strong focus on maintaining high-energy and playing big the duration of each match. So far the energy and attitude has been great! Surprisingly, 6 a.m. summer practices have been enjoyable and our team is meshing well.

OCHS: We are working on all aspects of the game to make us hard to beat. As well as bringing younger talent in and having our older girls in different positions. 

OHS: Intensity and energy are key to OHS. Our goal is to control the controllables on our side. We need to control our talk, our energy, our focus. If we can control our side, that will help our consistency throughout the season. We can’t be afraid to make mistakes- we’re working to step out of our comfort level- in order to run a faster pace game. Not playing safe- may lead to more errors so well have to work on being mentally tough to get over that and move to the next play.

THS: We want to improve more in finding out what our real capability of playing the game is.