The sounds of squeaking shoes, shouts and loud impacts of a ball being swatting into the hardwood in late July at Caledonia High School can only mean one thing – volleyball season is here.
The Cavaliers are back on the court this week for the start of volleyball practice, which began on Monday, and the team is already hard at work preparing for a season it hopes ends with a state championship trophy. Led by coach Samantha Brooks, who is entering her 19th year leading the program, the Cavaliers open their season on Aug. 2 in the Varsity Tournament held at New Albany. Joining her on the sidelines as new assistant coaches are former Cavaliers Haley Maughan and Mary Beth Edmondson.
There will be some new challenges to take on this year as the program departs MHSAA Region 3-4A and enters the Region 1-5A ranks. Instead of competing against Greenwood, Houston, Louisville and Kosciusko, the team will play its important district games against new foes and teams it already has history with: West Point, Columbus, long-time rival New Hope, Ponototoc, which captured the 2021 state 4A title and ended Caledonia’s deep playoff push that year, and Lafayette, which won back-to-back state 5A titles in 2023 and 2024.
“Some of the toughest competition in 5A is right in our very own district,” Brooks said. “We will be able to compete. I’m excited to see where we’ll fit in, but I do know we will continue to be competitive.”
Helping lead the Cavs’ charge into 5A are four returning seniors and one senior transfer. Micah Unruh is back as middle blocker/hitter, defensive specialist Karson Dawkins is returning, Addison Finch is back as libero, Bes Sumrall will play setter/pin hitter and 6-foot-3 Elsa Stubbendorff is the new senior pin hitter transfer from Texas.
“My senior group, they are second to none. They all have great chemistry, so I look forward to that,” Brooks said. “We’ve got some great senior leadership.”
It’s a group that Brooks said is primed to add another state championship to the program, which most recently earned the 2022 4A title. It’s a tall, but completable task in Brooks’ eyes as long as her Cavs’ stay focused and mentally tough. There have been many times when losing focus during winnable games cost Caledonia its season.
In the 2021 campaign, the Cavs were up 2-0 over Pontotoc in the 4A semifinals when the Warriors stormed back to win 3-2. Even in the 2023 season, Caldedonia lost 3-0 in the third round to a Newton County squad that defied expectations. Time after time, Caledonia found itself at the end of a season it felt concluded too early in the playoffs.
“I think that was a turning point for me in the mental aspect,” Brooks said of the Newton County loss. “We could have (gone) in and won; we were perfectly capable. We had nine seniors, so many of those were a part of that state championship group, and I think we went into it expecting to win, as you should. (We were) maybe a little overconfident and then a little surprised at the competition, and we folded.”
So to help promote focus and mental sharpness in playoff contests, Brooks has installed sections of practices dedicated to the topic, like having her team play in a simulated game where the other team starts with a lead.
“I still haven’t digested that loss after all those years.” Brooks said of the Pontotoc defeat in 2021. “Mental toughness is something that you can win any game on any given day no matter the team. You have to be athletic and all that, but aside from that, girls at the high school level, that’s something important to build up in them is that mental toughness.”
That mental aspect of the game was the focus in practices all of last season too. During which, Caledonia swept its division, 8-0, for the Region 3-4A title but ended their season 17-19 overall with a 3-1 loss in the third round of the state tournament to New Albany.
“We really went further than I expected us to go, and I think a lot of that was because we prepared mentally and we played the other side of the court,” she said. “So, that’s kind of the direction we are going this season.”
Brooks said her team’s physical fitness, chemistry and support from their families are all strengths that will help guide them this season, but there’s still plenty of other things to work on.
“I think the biggest thing is just cleaning things up on the court,” Brooks said. “The girls know the game. Our volleyball IQ as a whole is high at the varsity level. Individually, it’s high. I think it’s just working out the kinks. The setter-hitter connection, the timing on the block with new blockers coming in and different blockers, and we pulled some girls up.”
But with their returning talent and emphasis on mental toughness, all of their eyes are focused on capturing another state championship.
“If they want it, it’s possible,” she said.
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