Players on the Wrangell High School girls volleyball team practice serving drills last Friday in the gym. Head coach Alyssa Allen will assess players' abilities before figuring out their places in rotation.
With 14 players on the roster, this season's high school girls volleyball team is one of the largest that Alyssa Allen has led in the four years she's been head coach.
A few key players were lost with this year's graduating class, but she has six returning players to get the squad geared up for the coming months of competition.
Allen has a lot of younger players coming from middle school and a few older players who have either never played or haven't played since middle school.
Among the returning players, Allen said seniors Kiara Harrison and Brodie Gardner, junior Kayla Meissner and sophomore Aubrey Wynne will help in leading the team this year since they have the experience of previous years behind them.
The team has only had three practices so far, working on serving, passing and setting. Strategy and rotation placement will come once Allen has had a chance to assess everyone's abilities.
Players will be taught or refreshed in the fundamentals and "seeing where they're at skill level-wise because I haven't seen so many of them play before that I just don't know," Allen said.
Allen said her returning players are going to be a big help in guiding the younger players since they have the experience. Harrison will be key with her height, which she's been using to the team's advantage since she began playing her freshman year. "She doesn't have any problem with (using her height)," Allen said.
Meissner has also shown improvement with her skills, the coach said. "She's improved a lot from her freshman year," Allen said. "I'm just seeing her get a little more confident."
Kaylyn Easterly has stepped in to help assist Allen with coaching until a permanent assistant coach can be hired.
Though the first official match isn't until Oct. 14 in Juneau, the team is planning a trip on Oct. 1 to Petersburg to get in some extra practice. Wrangell will be hosting the seeding tournament Oct. 20-22 against six other teams in the division to determine rankings heading into regionals.
The next month will be spent getting the team where they need to be in preparation to take on other teams.
"They're all very coachable and wanting to learn," Allen said. "We're all a little rusty but they're picking it right back up."
Reader Comments(0)