Murphy – Fall sports back means volleyball is returning, and all four teams within the Cherokee Scout’s coverage area are excited.
At Murphy, the Lady Bulldogs have to replace six seniors from their first Final Four team in a decade. That includes Big Smoky Mountain Conference Player of the Year Torin Rogers and libero Cailey Dockery, who is now playing volleyball at the University of Notre Dame, along with All-Conference setter Amber Martin. Last season, Murphy finished 23-3 overall and won its fifth straight conference championship.
Winning the conference is definitely a goal again, but head coach Jordan Lovingood knows her team will have a different look this fall. All-Conference outside hitter Liv Payne is back for her senior year, while junior Maddison Seabolt has been much improved in summer workouts and practice after playing club volleyball for the last year.
Lovingood isn’t worried about Murphy’s hitters, as the Lady Bulldogs also return senior Riley Dockery and junior Calista Rumfelt. The bigger question has been how to get the ball to them.
Sophomore Addie Johnson and junior Addyson Dickey will step in at setter, and the Lady Bulldogs probably won’t use a libero (a defense-only player) this year. Instead, they’ll rely on all six players on the court to be able to pass well and know their role.
“We’re really relying on all six players on the court to be great passers,” Lovingood said. “Even if our setter gets the first pass, we can have another setter on the court who plays secondary.”
Over on the eastern side of the county, Andrews is looking to build off last year’s playoff appearance.
The Lady Wildcats graduated four seniors from a 5-11 team last year, and will be much younger this year. The offense will run through the middle with senior Rylie McDonald and junior Carley Clark, with sophomores Kylie Donaldson and Beth Shook stepping in at outside hitter.
Junior Kinleigh Queen is back at setter, and junior Americas Leguire will also play there, while sophomore Addie Dartez will step in at libero. With a young team, Mustin is trying to get her team confident that what they do in practice can carry over to game day.
“The potential is there,” Mustin said. “The coaches believe in them, we just gotta get them believing they’re able to do it.”
Monica Wayman is taking over as the new coach for Hiwassee Dam, and is hoping to help build the Lady Eagles into a more competitive program. COVID-19 derailed an exciting 3-0 start into a 6-19 final record, and Hiwassee Dam graduated five seniors from that team. Though Wayman never played volleyball, she has a good assistant in Angie Davis, who led the Lady Eagles to a 60-26 record from 2015-18.
Senior setter Payton McNabb and outside hitter Allison Stiles will be team captains, and Wayman sees a lot of potential in sophomore Olivia McNabb and freshman Brinkley Payne at middle hitter, and sophomore Bella Stiles will be stepping in at libero.
“I feel like we’re setting a new foundation,” Wayman said. “I’m really excited about that because … you’ve got pretty much new players and a new coaching staff. It creates an opportunity to change the culture, and that is probably what I’m most excited about is building a program and building it right from the bottom up – just creating that new culture around the sport within our students and school.”
At Nantahala, the Lady Hawks are looking to snap a two-year winless streak and win their first Little Smoky Mountain Conference game since 2014. They’re also looking forward to a more normal season after playing just 15 games combined the past two seasons.
“We have been focusing on fundamentals,” head coach Jordan Pickens wrote in an email. “We’ve participated in a (Western Carolina) volleyball camp summer, where my girls learned a lot. We are starting practice off strong!”