2021 Fall Preview: East Newton Volleyball

east-newton-5

By Chris Parker

East Newton volleyball enters the second season with Ashley Brown as head coach looking to bounce back from a winless 2020.

Leadership from the upperclassmen will be key for helping the Patriots snap a 33-match losing streak.

“I hold all of my upperclassman to pretty high standards as far as leading by example. This being my second year we are adjusting nicely to this expectation and my returners are figuring out that age doesn’t matter. The tone that’s set each day is up to them. That being said, vocally we will look heavily to Kenzie (Massey) and Norah Lucke,” Brown said.

Massey earned honorable mention all-conference honors as a junior last year.

“My expectations of her (Massey) are honestly pretty similar to last year. She is a dynamic player and she will be called on to lead by example. Her younger peers look to her and my hope is her competitive spirit will rub off on them,” Brown said. “Kenzie will be a middle blocker and a setter for us this year. This combination is rare, and a true testament to her athleticism.”

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL SEASON SCHEDULE

Lucke will move to an outside hitter position this year. She transitions from libero.

Shyanne Thorton and Kennedy Lucke are versatile juniors who will compete to set and add value in the back row.

Lilly Korn is an outside hitter who will add depth and consistency. Cameran Clement returns as a middle blocker for her sophomore year.

Senior right side Mariah Alday, junior outside hitter Aubrey Payne and sophomore Laikyn Higginbotham (defensive specialist or libero) will be newcomers this year.

“My goal is for ball control to be the thing we are most known for. We’ve put a lot of work into it over the summer and will continue to hit it hard in preseason,” Brown said. “We’ve got to become smart attackers. We aren’t very big. I think our tallest girl is 5’8 on a good day. We will need to be smart rather than physical in most cases to be successful.”

East Newton will also look to develop depth to better compete in the best-of-five set format.

“It’s just a big adjustment for the girls and coaches mentally. I was familiar with it from playing college volleyball, but we don’t have the depth chart that was available in college. It’s tough too because we don’t do anything in that format at the JV level or during the summer. Conditioning has to be a part of the game puzzle and we have to continue working to add depth and bring kids from the bench who can impact our match. We have kids with that potential if they can keep working and stay the course,” Brown said.

DOWNLOAD THE O-ZONE APP NOW!
APPLE – CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
ANDROID – CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

East Newton will travel to Pierce City for a jamboree with Ash Grove, Pleasant Hope and the host Eagles. The Patriots open the season on Aug. 30 at Pierce City.

“We just need to stay the course of working hard, increasing our volleyball IQ and being sponges to the learning process. We made tremendous strides last year. It didn’t translate on paper and unfortunately that’s what many people see,” Brown said. “But our IQ, our skill set, and our confidence to compete grew all year. I know that though the process of growth and improvement can be slow, I expect this year to see our progress pay off in some wins.”

CLICK HERE FOR ALL OF THE FALL SPORTS PREVIEWS

Related Posts

Loading...