NEW HOPE — Last fall, New Hope High School head volleyball coach Allison Woolbright and assistant Becky Hudgins took the Trojans’ starters to watch potential playoff opponents and take note of what they did best.
The advance scouting gave New Hope the preparation it needed to reach the MHSAA Class 5A semifinals — marking the Trojans’ first final four appearance in state history. But it was that same preparation that Woolbright knew other schools hadn’t made for her own squad.
New Hope’s roster last year featured no seniors, and several eighth graders and freshmen saw significant playing time. Consequently, Woolbright said, several teams underestimated the Trojans.
“I think when people first looked at our roster and saw so many young players, no seniors, they thought, ‘Oh, they don’t have leadership’ — which, that was totally false,” she said. “They looked at those younger girls and thought, ‘Oh, well, if they’re playing an eighth grader as their setter, we don’t have really anything to worry about.'”
But the Trojans used their talent to subvert expectations all the way to the final four, where a straight-set loss to Long Beach — a team from the Mississippi Gulf Coast that New Hope had never seen play — ended their dream season.
“We did things that nobody thought we would do,” sophomore Kensley Woolbright said.
Now, a month from the start of the 2020 campaign, coach Woolbright knows her team is getting more respect — and, consequently, more pressure, as other schools have surely taken note.
“I think this year they know that we actually have ability, and so I think they’re going to probably prepare a little differently for us this season,” Woolbright said. “We know that, and so we’ve got to prepare for that as well.”
Since starting workouts June 1, New Hope has been doing just that, caught up in the long process of getting ready for the season to start in August.
Woolbright said the fact that her team couldn’t get together after spring break because of the COVID-19 pandemic meant the acclimation period was harder than normal.
“I feel like we’re all kind of getting back in shape, working off not being able to go to the gym or anything and getting ready to play a killer season,” senior middle blocker Micaela Hudgins said.
To help overcome that, Woolbright organized virtual workouts, distributed checklists for her players and sent younger Trojans video examples of the exercises she wanted them to complete.
Though helpful, Hudgins said, it couldn’t beat getting in shape as a team.
“Working out on your own is fun, but team workouts together — it’s easier with the community,” Hudgins said.
She and outside hitter Daylyn Nettles are New Hope’s two returning seniors from last season.
“I’m really excited to have both of them back,” Woolbright said. “I hate that this is going to be their last year.”
Fellow senior Maci Coleman will return to the team after sitting out last year. She will play along the back row, Woolbright said.
“We’re hoping that we can utilize her some as well,” Woolbright said.
One of the Trojans’ strengths in 2019 was youth, as freshmen Madyson McBrayer and Kensley and eighth grader Annie Woolbright — among others — played big parts on the varsity team. This year, their coach said, they’ll have to continue to step up.
“A lot of young talent, but I like that, because that means we have some talent for the next few years coming up, so that’s a good thing,” coach Woolbright said.
She complimented the leadership shown by older and younger players alike, including Nettles, Hudgins and Kensley — who stressed the importance of communication among teammates after good and bad points alike.
“When someone messes up or makes a bad play, we just pick them up because that could be you the next play,” Kensley said. “You just want to keep everyone in a good spirit, good attitude, because it helps you keep going on the court.”
Especially with everybody returning, Kensley said, keeping up New Hope’s great chemistry from last season to this one will be critical.
“We just loved one another so much, and we just had a really special bond,” she said. “To be able to keep that, I definitely think we can make it back and possibly go even further.”
Hudgins echoed her coach in noting that the Trojans’ success depends on how they adjust to the increased preparation New Hope will see from its opponents after catching them by surprise last fall.
“I think we showed them what we can be and what we’re made of, and this year, hopefully, they’ll be ready,” Hudgins said. “We still have the momentum. We’re still ready. We still want to win, and we want to get further than last year.”
If the Trojans can do that — and Hudgins expects they will — it would be a second straight dream season and the ideal way to close out her high school volleyball career.
“We got to make a lot of memories last season, and I’m hoping we get to make some more,” Hudgins said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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