As much success as Columbia High School had as a whole in its first year returning to Class 4A, the volleyball Wildcats weren’t as lucky as the best teams the South had to offer all happened to be in Columbia’s district.
The result was a 5-15 season and a 2-6 mark in district play, but third-year head coach Ryan Loftin said last year’s introduction to that level of play allowed the Wildcats to prepare better during the offseason. And while Columbia graduated five seniors from last year’s squad, it played a ton of underclassmen a year ago that now have more experience under their belts as they become upperclassmen.
“They’ve got the experience of playing in those tough places and playing in that district, so I’m hoping it will pay off a little bit for us,” Loftin said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to compete a little bit more this year.”
The Wildcats will continue to run a two-setter lineup with Kathlynn Davis and Chenadi Marshall setting up the attack for Columbia’s offense. On the front line will be Jakira Brown and Katie Gates, two superb athletes that shine as superstars in basketball and track, respectively.
“They can jump out of the gym so we’re going to let them do their thing up there at the net,” Loftin said. “Mia Miciello serves real well for us, and she’s going to play some front for us (as well).
“Madison White is going to be one of our back-row players as a senior. Then I got some young freshmen we’re going to rely on as well. We have a good mixture of experience and youth.”
To take a real step forward in 2022, Columbia will need to improve its passing and limit unforced errors. Loftin said as long as the Wildcats can set up their offense correctly and give Brown and Gates something to swing at at the net, Columbia will make some noise.
Another area of focus has been serve receiving, which Loftin said has looked a lot better during offseason practices as the communication on the floor has improved.
Columbia hosting its annual Mountain Dew Classic on Saturday, with its junior varsity squad beginning the full day of action against West Marion’s JV team at 9 a.m. The varsity Wildcats will begin their season at 10 a.m. against rival West Marion before taking on Hattiesburg at noon.
