Anna Kilarski and Kristen Phillips didn”t want to waste an opportunity to have fun.
Elizabeth Fields and Liz Byrne are going to make sure Kilarski, Phillips, and the rest of their pupils learn something, too.
Kilarski and Phillips are two members of Heritage Academy”s first-year volleyball program. Coached by Fields, a former player at the University of Alabama, and Byrne, a former player at San Jose State University, the team will play its first match at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 9 at Starkville High.
Until then, Kilarski and Phillips plan to soak up everything they can about the sport so they can be ready for their debut.
“It looks exciting because you”re always moving,” said Phillips, a sophomore, who has never played organized volleyball but has watched the sport on television.
Kilarski also has never played the sport on a team, but she said her father has played it, so she has some basic knowledge of how it is played. She said the footwork will help her and Phillips prepare for basketball season.
“There has been a lot of interest and excitement about the sport,” said Kilarski, another sophomore. “There haven”t been as many people who have come out as were on the initial signup list. There were more than 50 people on the original list.”
Fifteen team members spent the first part of practice Tuesday working on the proper footwork on an approach to the net, how to jump and to block and the net and how to transition back to their position, how to pass the ball, and how to serve.
“Once you get the hang of it you can pretty much do it, but getting the hang of it is the hard part,” Phillips said. “It has been challenging, but we”re still learning.”
Elizabeth Scott, a senior transfer from Starkville High School, is the most experienced player on the team. Scott has played club volleyball for years with Tupelo Juniors. She missed Tuesday”s practice due to a stomach virus.
Fields, who is expecting a child in the fall, anticipates having more than 30 players on the roster. She said she was first asked at the end of May if she would be interested in helping to establish a program.
Fields said she called all of the players on the initial signup list t make sure the players would follow through on their commitment. Since then, the team has been practicing for three days a week. Fields took the team to Tuscaloosa, Ala., where they practiced with two of her former Crimson Tide teammates.
Two weeks ago, the Lady Patriots also trained at a skills camp conducted by former Mississippi State volleyball coach Tina Seals. Last year, Seals started the Mississippi Juniors, a club volleyball team in the area, and she has spent much of that time working with players to help develop the sport.
Fields said she has been impressed by how much her players have learned and how much they have improved in a short amount of time.
“It is amazing, and I just love the girls,” said Fields, who was married Oct. 18 and is living in Columbus. “I love being here.”
Fields had worked as a coach at camps at Alabama. She worked last year as a coach for age-group teams with the Mississippi Juniors. She said she gained confidence she could be a coach, even one charged with the responsibility of building a program.
“At first, I was definitely overwhelmed and thinking, ”Where do I start?” ” Fields said. “But once I got the girls committed, the games scheduled, and did the camps, it kind of bonded the team together more.”
Fields also has bonded with Byrne, who is expecting a child in the fall, too, and the rookie volunteer coaches share responsibility for leading drills.
Heritage Academy is working out at Mississippi University for Women, which is where it will play its home matches. In addition to attending a camp at Alabama.
“Everybody has had fun learning,” Phillips said. “We want to learn what the game is about and the basics of it.”
She said it has been fun stepping back and working with players who don”t have a lot of knowledge about the sport or its technique. As a 6-foot-3 left-hander, Fields was an outside hitter at Alabama, so she and Byrne, a middle blocker/outside hitter, will have plenty of tips about how to play at the net to their players.
“It can be kind of tough (coaching beginners),” Fields said. “I am learning as a coach. I did just come from the college level, so things that are like, ”Duh,” to me, they have no idea.”
Fields hopes to stress little things, like going to the line every time in a drill or running in giving maximum effort in every drill. Both coaches emphasized both points Tuesday at practice.
“We”re putting it together the best we can, just the two of us,” said Byrne, who has played for nearly 20 years, including a stint in Japan. She also has a 5-year-old daughter who goes to Heritage Academy. “So far it has been really good. They”re definitely making progress every day.”
Heritage Academy”s match Aug. 9 is one of 11 it has scheduled this season. The school is one of seversl in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, including Jackson Academy, Jackson Prep, Madison-Ridgeland Academy, and Presbyterian Christian, to introduce volleyball this season. Heritage Academy Headmaster Tommy Gunn said the location of the other schools in Jackson and Hattiesburg made it easier for the school to schedule its matches against Starkville, Columbus, Aberdeen, Caledonia, Victory Christian, and Pickens Academy (Ala.) to cut down on travel costs.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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