Murphy – Football isn’t the only sports returning to its normal place on the sports calendar. Volleyball is also back this fall, with games starting this week.
Hiwassee Dam opened its season with a home match against Copper Basin, Tenn., on Monday night. Murphy and Nantahala both start Thursday, with the Lady Bulldogs hosting Highlands and the Lady Hawks traveling to Robbinsville. Andrews opens its season at Hiwassee Dam on Tuesday.
Jordan Lovingood is taking over the reins for Nikol Edwards at Murphy, as the Bulldogs look to win their fifth straight Smoky Mountain Conference championship. Edwards stepped down in May to spend more time with her family. The Lady Bulldogs lost to Bishop McGuiness in the third round of the 1A state playoffs, and Lovingood is keeping expectations high.
“You hope for success, you work for success and they’ve been doing that,” Lovingood said of her team. “We want (to be) conference champions, and then work as hard as we can in the playoffs.”
Despite losing All-Conference players Grace Nelson and Sarah Pullium, Murphy still has a good core back. Hitters Olivia Payne and Torin Rogers return, as does setter Amber Martin and libero Cailey Dockery, who is committed to playing volleyball at Notre Dame. Lovingood has also been impressed with some of the younger players on the team.
“They don’t let their grade be an indicator of how they can play,” Lovingood said. “They play up, they play good. I’m really excited about who we have returning.”
Andrews is hoping for better after finishing 3-9 last season, though the Wildcats still have some questions to answer in the early parts of the season. They have four experienced seniors returning, though some may have to play different positions than last year because they don’t have the same height they had last season.
Head coach Shanna Mustin expects setter Kaiya Ellis to play a big role, as well as outside hitter Mackenzie Stalcup, who she thinks is more confident this year. Brooke Phillips played setter last year and may rotate between that position and outside hitter, while Kira Creasman will handle the libero spot.
Mustin wants her team to have more confidence this year, which could potentially lead to the Wildcats’ first winning season since 2012.
“We went five (sets) with Swain and lost by 2 points, we went 5 with Hayesville and lost by 2 points,” Mustin said. “Both of those situations could’ve gone in our favor. They were just so close.
“I’m hoping that seeing that we can go five games with other teams in our conference. That will be the extra boost of confidence we need to get over that hurdle and see ourselves as a winning team.”
Both Hiwassee Dam and Nantahala are coming off winless 2020 seasons and hoping for better this year.
The Lady Eagles have a large senior class, and head Sam Walker said they’re more used to his style of play in his third season. This year, he’s hoping to see his team play at the same level throughout the match.
“We got into a few games where we were playing well and then it was like we hit a wall and all that went away,” Walker said. “Looking to be more consistent, play the same in the first part of the set as we do in the last part of the set and carry that through every set of the match.”
For the Lady Hawks, the key is to master the fundamentals and see where it goes from there.
“We have a lot of returning players as well as some new girls who I’m looking to see a lot of playing time,” head coach Amy Taylor said. “They’re showing up and putting in the effort.”