The West Marion volleyball team has yet to make the playoffs in four seasons but is hoping 2018 is the year for a breakthrough.
The Trojans played better and better in 2017 as the season progressed and finished with a 7-12 record, going 4-6 in district play but are expecting internal development to put them over the hump.
“Our goals are to just play consistently and, of course, we’d love to make the playoffs. We’ve never made the playoffs in volleyball, and this is our fifth year,” head coach Todd Pittman said. “East Marion is going to be tough again this year. Salem and Columbia are always tough. Our goal is to make the playoffs, but it’s going to be hard against those three teams because the district only takes two.”
One of the big reasons for optimism is the return of former starter Atayviah Williams.
“She was out last year with a heart condition, but she’s back and eligible to play this year,” Pittman said. “Hopefully we’ll see some better things out of her because she missed a year and a half with us. She started for me as a freshman then started having health issues and had to quit for a while.”
Pittman said Avery Holmes, Elaina Hollis and Jayden Terrell will also play big roles, and he has seen a lot of development from last season.
“A few girls have gotten a lot better. Avery Holmes, our setter, has gotten a lot better this year. Setting was new to her last year, but she’s really picked it up this year. Atayviah Williams has surprisingly got back into the stride of things pretty quickly after missing a year and a half,” he said. “A young girl, Kaleigh Stringer, is a tall girl who is going to be a middle hitter for us and has been getting better day by day. She still has a lot to learn with this being only her second year playing volleyball, but she’s getting better for us.”
However, while some players have their roles cemented, there could still be some shuffling in the lineup.
“It’s going to be a day-by-day thing right now until they can learn their positions and fill out their roles. We can tweak it a little bit to find out where they’re going to be more accessible to the game,” Pittman said. “I’ve got some girls labeled right now as middle hitters and outside hitters, but we’re just waiting to see how they do in game action and if we need to tweak any of those things or move some girls around.”
The Trojans have been preparing for nearly a month and got some extra instruction from a college program.
“We’ve been practicing the past couple of weeks. The week after July 4 we went to William Carey for a volleyball camp, then we’ve just been practicing trying to get ready since,” Pittman said.
The Trojans have their first match of the season Saturday morning against Columbia at 10 in the Columbia Classic, and Pittman said he wants to see his team play fluidly and consistently.
“What we’ve learned so far is we have several young girls that will be stepping into some starting roles, and we want to see how they’re going to step into the game and how fluid they’re going to move,” he said.
Pictured Above: West Marion head coach Todd Pittman talks to the Trojans during a timeout last season. | Photo by Mark Rogers
