The fifth year of volleyball at JCHS took the court earlier this week for the Lady Greyhounds as part of a tri-match just down the road against Mary Persons and Ace Charter.
That began a season in which Jones County is looking to lean on not just an experienced group of seniors but younger players eager to step up as well.
“We have a young team and quite a few seniors,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Kim Hanner said. “They’ve been working really hard, and we’ve been pleased with what we have seen.”
Two of those seniors with experience are Arleigh Henderson and Lyndsey Hanner.
Both played a good part of last season from the setter position. This year, though, the Lady Hounds are mixing things up, shifting their on-court positions. In addition, Emily Parks moves to the libero position following Kylie Chastain’s graduation.
“We’ve kind of put in some sneaky plays where they will play on the right and also play as setters,” Hanner said of the two. “We have kind of come up with the idea that we will play scrappy this year, we want to play smarter.”
With a year more of experience, JCHS is banking on being able to add a layer onto its overall play, going beyond just the basics of the game.
“We’re to point now to where we can add on some things and switch things up,” Hanner said.
That will come as part of a heavier weekend schedule. With the region now being a total of 10 teams, having non-region matches during the week is more of a challenge. Jones County is countering that by heading to a pair of early-season tournaments – this weekend’s Southside Classic in Locust Grove and next weekend at FPD.
These formats will allow JCHS to not just play more matches in pool play but also see a lot of on-court action. This weekend in Locust Grove will see a total of 13 teams take the floor.
“We have added more tournaments,” Hanner said. “Hopefully that will even things out a little bit and give us a glimpse at other teams.”
