West Lowndes volleyball coach Ashley Clark hopes this season will be a bounce-back year full of character and skill development that ends with Panthers making a trip back into the MHSAA 1A playoffs for the first time since 2023.

West Lowndes made its playoff debut in the 2022 season, a 3-0 defeat to Bay Springs, but broke through for its first playoff win the following year by conquering Jumpertown 3-2 in the first round. The Panthers, though, met their end in the second round with a 3-0 loss to Tupelo Christian Prep and finished with an 8-8 record. The 2024 season didn’t produce as much success as the year prior and West Lowndes struggled to a 1-12 campaign that missed the postseason.

Clark and her Panthers are back in practices, which started last week, working and building toward getting back to the playoff dance.

“Last year, I think we struggled from understanding that as we were growing, other teams were growing as well,” Clark said. “So, we just came in expecting the norm of beating the normal teams and playing team volleyball as we normally play. We realized that every other team that we played against was also growing and learning more knowledge of the game and was finding ways to be very strategic in beating us as well. 

“But this season, I expect us to be a little more committed and more competitive and constantly growing in all areas. We focused more on fundamentals over the summer and these last couple of weeks we’re working more on communication and building that chemistry during practice.” 

The bulk of this year’s team is made up of veteran juniors who’ve been through the rigors of many volleyball seasons already. They hold a special place in Clark’s heart.

“I’m excited about this group because I started with them in seventh grade,” she said. “And when they came in, I started teaching them actual fundamental volleyball. This group actually learned on the level they should have learned compared to previous two years where I was just coming in and trying to change the program. They’ve been in more high-intensity practices, so I’m excited about this group now.” 

Like everyone else though, they still need practice.That’s why on Tuesday, Clark had the team split into two games playing at the same time on the same court, divided only by a line of cones. With players constantly rotating in and out of various positions, It’s her way of simulating the fast-paced and sometimes chaotic action that can occur in volleyball. It also made sure all players got an opportunity to serve and return serves, something she said everyone needs to work on.

“This year, what we’ve really been working on is the serve and receive and passing on serve and receive,” Clark said. “I think that is how we lost most of our games in the past, where we just weren’t prepared for serve or receive. So this year, that’s exactly what we’re doing. I’m working hard on giving them the hardest serves they can work on every day so they can be prepared this year.”   

The season begins on Aug. 5 at Columbus and will feature a schedule with some new opponents. The recent MHSAA reshuffling of teams has left the Panthers in Region 1-1A with new opponents Ingomar, Okalona, Smithville and Tupelo Christian Prep.

“We are now playing a lot of hard-hitting teams,” she said.   

It’s another challenging road for the Panthers, but Clark said they are getting ready. And she’s going to soak up every minute she can with the group. 

“That junior class I talked about, I’m excited about playing with them again another year. They have all stepped up,” she said. “This is probably the first year where I would say I have more hitters who actually use the fundamentals that I was talking about – snapping and actually hitting, not just hitting the ball over (the net). This year we are going to have some hard hitters. You are going to see some intensity when we play. That group, they all have heart and they want to learn but at the same time they want to win. I told them, ‘You don’t make winners overnight. It takes practice to become a winner.’ So, we are setting the standards up high this year, and I really believe in this group. I think they are going to make the school and the community proud this year.”