As with the other Ontario High School sports, the Lady Warriors volleyball team anticipates the start of their new season in a new league—the Northern Ohio League (NOL).
“We will be facing some very good teams. Being a shorter team, we have to work on our passing and serving along with our defensive skills to compensate,” stated head volleyball coach Kylie Pate.
Of the 24 girls out for the team, there are four returning starters, and three seniors, Katelyn Lyons, Taylor Hartz, and Jocelyn Porter, who will help lead the girls and pass along their knowledge of the sport to the underclassmen.
The seniors will have participated in volleyball all four years of high school and hope to make their last year a winning season. Lyons added that she’d like for the team to develop a tighter bond in an effort to be successful.
She recalled her freshmen year of playing with the Lady Warriors and stated, “There was a sense of family and it was really fun playing together with the girls,” and so she’s hoping for the team to experience that sense of chemistry this year, as well.
Coach Pate has noticed that the girls have already started to achieve closeness within the group and mentioned, “The girls’ team chemistry, dedication, serving and hitting strategies, and quick offensive strategies are some of the team’s strengths.”
Since May, the girls have gone to open gyms, weight lifting, and speed and agility training to prep for the season. Pate said, “The Kent State camp we went to was a lot of fun and the girls learned a lot about ball control and defense drills, along with communication drills. We were very happy with the instruction.”
The team also participated in the Ashland Summer League Tournament over the summer. “We did really well. It was a nice experience with good competition. We won a lot of games and we got to try out several different line-ups and implement things that we learned at camp,” stated Pate.
“We will be facing some very good teams. Being a shorter team, we have to work on our passing and serving along with our defensive skills to compensate,” stated head volleyball coach Kylie Pate.
