By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
In only her first season at the helm, Joplin head coach Desiree Felker did something that hadn’t been accomplished at the school since 1995.
The 15-12-5 Eagles upset No. 1 seed Carthage and captured the Class 5 District 12 championship.
“The 2021 season is one that I will always look back on and remember fondly,” Felker said. “We had a great group of kids that were willing to be coached hard, work hard, and they reaped the benefits of that hard work. When we got going last summer, we had a group of girls that were unsure of what they were capable of, and by the end of the season they believed they could take on the world.”
While Felker is hopeful her program can continue building on last season’s success, she will have to replace a talented trio of graduated attackers.
“We lost our three kill leaders from last season in Angelina Schramm (200 kills), Emma Floyd (174 kills) and Allie Lawrence (186 kills),” Felker said. “Emma Floyd also holds the career blocks record (105 blocks), and Angelina Schramm holds the career aces record for JHS (98 aces). That senior class was willing to buy into a new coaching staff and do whatever it took to reach the goals they set for the season.”
Despite the graduation losses, Joplin does return six varsity players from last season’s district championship squad, including a quintet of talented seniors.
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Setter Kaya Cooper (5 kills, 165 digs, 418 assists, 41 aces), outside hitter Abby Edwards (137 kills, 4 blocks, 116 digs, 9 assists, 16 aces), setter Abby Hembree (10 kills, 116 digs, 305 assists, 34 aces), defensive specialist/libero Jayla Hunter (4 kills, 193 digs, 3 assists, 26 aces) and defensive specialist/libero Paisley Parker (13 kills, 533 digs, 41 assists, 35 aces) will lead the Eagle attack this season.
The seniors will be joined by returning junior middle/outside and right side hitterBailey Owens (117 kills, 64 blocks, 22 digs, 2 aces).
“Each of these young women have a passion for the game, the willingness to run through the fire for each other and work harder than any group of kids I have had the opportunity to coach,” Felker said.
Joplin will also look for significant contributions from some varsity newcomers this season.
Senior outside/middle hitter Serafina Auberry and junior middle/right side hitter Raelin Calderon will step into more prominent roles for the Eagles.
“Both of these young women bring a ton of energy to the court and it is going to be fun to see what they can do for us this season,” Felker said.
Felker expects junior Janiah Vauhgn and sophomore Adalynn Niorfalise to compete for varsity playing time, as well, this season.
With plenty of talent and athleticism on the roster, Felker has high expectations heading into the fall campaign.
“Last year we were able to rely on our height a little bit to bail us out in different situations,” Felker said. “This year, we are very athletic and we hope to use that to our advantage in speeding up the pace of the game on our side of the net. We want to set the tempo for the game early and build off of that. We also have several girls who are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the ball off the court, so we can extend rallies, and if we can put the ball away in those situations, we will be tough to handle.”
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Joplin also returns its two top setters from last season and will likely utilize a versatile 6-2 rotation again in 2022.
“We were one of the only teams last year to run a 6-2 offense in the Central Ozark Conference,” Felker said. “We return both of our setters from last year in Abby Hembree and Kaya Cooper. They both bring different strengths to the court, but they play great defense and have the ability to speed up the game when we need them to on the court.”
Felker sees Joplin’s defense as another primary strength heading into the season.
“Defensively, we do a good job of keeping the ball off the floor,” Felker said. “
Our back row players have adopted the mentality that ‘there is no ball that they are unable to get to,’ and they play like that. It may not always be pretty, but they get the job done.”
Summer injuries and limited court time as a team could slow Joplin’s development out of the gate, but Felker believes those challenges will only help her team become stronger as the season progresses.
“We have faced a lot of adversity this summer, which allowed us to learn quite a bit about who we can be as a team,” Felker said. “So it may take us some time to hit our stride, but when we do, big things can happen.”
Following an Aug. 23 home jamboree, Joplin opens its season Aug. 30 at Pembroke Hill.
