It has been a productive summer for New Hope head volleyball coach Laura Lee Holman and her team as they’ve hit the court hard with drills, practices and summer-time games known as “play dates” in preparation for the season’s looming start on Aug. 4 at Tupelo.
The team has even participated in some volleyball camps as well. Just last week the Trojans were Oxford at Ole Miss learning from the Rebels’ volleyball squad while also getting more opportunities to see action against other high school teams. Getting as much action in as possible is part of Holman’s plan for the Trojans this summer, who are coming off last year’s 10-22 season that ended in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. This summer has all been about fixing many of the things that caused some difficult stretches of games in their previous campaign, like lapses in defense and missed scoring opportunities.
“I think from what I’ve seen at the play dates, especially at the Ole Miss camp, those things are definitely improving, which is making certain parts of the game a lot easier on us, ” Holman said. “A lot more attacks from everywhere, from our outside middles to our right side. Because our passing is better we are getting more opportunities on the attack, especially off of the serve and receive. That’s been probably the biggest improvement I think over the summer. I think too, what we’re seeing from the three-year starters – I’ve got three year starters, I’ve got some sophomores who got lots of minutes last year as freshmen. Last year I think we had a lot of chemistry and this year I see a lot more focus on, ‘Hey, how can we improve? How can we get better? What do I need to do to get better?’ And I just see us getting better everyday, which is fun for the coach, and I think they are enjoying it too.”
Part of what makes the upcoming season even more exciting for the team is bringing back the majority of its starters. The Trojans only have to replace only one senior, albeit a really good one in Lexi McBrayer, who committed to play at Northeast Mississippi Community College.
“I think we relied so heavily on Lexi, and Lexi was good enough to take on the burden, but I think we’ve all realized that sharing the ball and making sure we are getting attacks from every angle is just a more efficient way to play. We’ve had some guys improve, so hopefully that looks a little different.”
The Trojans bring back Tatum McBride, who plays “phenomenal defense for us;” Kaeslyn Harcrow, a three-year starter at middle; Sarah Ruffin, a three-year starter at setter; Autumn Stacey, another three-year starter who has missed most of the summer with an injury; Callie Edmiston, a returning sophomore starter who played some “huge minutes” as a freshman last season; Madison McBride, who also saw action as a freshman last year and “has improved tremendously;” and Emery Holland, who didn’t start last year but “had a really, really good summer.”
“I’ve just seen so much improvement and I think they are excited about their improvement as well,” Holman said.
Before the season gets started, the Trojans are set to begin play in the fourth annual Mississippi Volleyball Invitational on July 31, which features 32 teams in a pool-and-bracket style tournament at the Jackson Convention Center. While it is an exciting opportunity, the team’s past few tries in the tournament has proved to be daunting.
“It’s usually a very humbling experience,” Holman said. “Last year we got in pool play with two teams that ended up winning state championships, so it’s usually a very humbling experience. You find out real quick. We can all feel all warm and fuzzy about our summer improvement and then we get to Jackson and it humbles very quickly. Still, it’s very exciting.”
I’m just really proud of the way they’ve kept their chemistry, but I feel like there’s more of a business-like approach this year. They seem a lot more focused on, ‘Hey, how do we get better?’ and holding each other accountable. But I’m excited.”
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