It’s been a summer of exciting work for Caledonia head volleyball coach Samantha Brooks and her varsity squad as they’ve racked up the hours in the gym in practices and friendly games against other teams in preparation for the season’s start in early August.
The Cavs have already battled Starkville in a “play date” along with a few other teams and are getting ready to host the Yellow Jackets and nine other teams Tuesday in the Cavalier Play Date for some more summer action.
So far, Brooks said it’s shaping up to be just what the Cavs needed as they work to build upon last year’s 21-13-2 season that ended in a deep push into the Class 5A playoffs.
“It’s been great. We’ve had some really great practices, got some good conditioning in, and we’ve been able to play around with some different people in some different positions,” said Brooks, who is entering her 20th season as the Cavs head coach.
Part of the offseason has been spent finding out who will step in to fill the roles left vacant by some of the team’s five graduating seniors, some of who went on to continue their careers in college.
Brooks said senior Avarie Harris has gotten a ton of action in the libero role and has “done an amazing job.” Madison Senior Woody has been battling as a hitter for the Cavaliers, and “she’s been a big hitter for us this summer and has been very impressive,” she said.
Another big part of the team is incoming sophomore Lyla Stubbendorft, who has been anchoring the middle and spent part of her summer playing for the Level Elite Sports club volleyball team in the 2026 AAU Girls Junior National Volleyball Championships in Orlando, Florida.
“She’s 6-foot-tall right now but I think she’ll grow a little bit more,” Brooks said. “She is very dynamic, and with the experience she has been more vocal on the court. She’s louder and she really knows what she wants to do, and I know that is going to help us.”
Brooks said she’s been impressed with what she’s seen so far and is feeling like another long run in the postseason is fully capable for this squad.
“(We’ve) been just trying to fill those roles,” Brooks said. “Last year with us competing in the final four in our first year in 5A, that was big for us. (We’re) not rebuilding but reloading, knowing that we can go in and do even better this year with what we’ve got.”
One thing that has stood out to Brooks so far has been just how well the team has gotten along with each other and how well they are already playing together. She said it’s a positive sign to see as the season’s start on Aug. 8 in a Region 1-5A clash at West Point looms even closer.
“Our team chemistry is really good,” she said. “They are all just in it to win it. They are so fun to watch and they have a lot of energy. One thing that we’ve worked on the last couple of years is just communicating and over-communicating. I think a lot of players don’t communicate because they don’t know how to communicate or they don’t know what to communicate. As a coach I’m an overexplainer and I want them to understand every bit of it so they can understand why we are doing it this way and why it’s important. I just feel like they are just so much more comfortable communicating because we’ve put a big focus on it and have talked about it a lot.”
One thing Brooks said she wants to see her team continue to work on though is keeping mental sharpness and clarity when going up against teams that they really want to beat – like New Hope. Brooks recalled how not long ago some of her teams were always sharper in those games, but that edge seems to have left some of those seniors. That’s something Brooks said the squad is consistently working on as well.
But so far, not much has been able to slow the Cavs down this summer.
“We’ve been able to compete above my expectations, which has been exciting,” she said.
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