The middle school Lady Eagles volleyball teams have started off their seasons strong, ending their first home tournament against Stockton with the eighth grade team at first place and the seventh grade team finishing in second.

Leading the team along with head Coach Nancy Downing, Lindsay Martin, one of the new coaches over this year’s team says “This year we just set out to improve each and every day, putting an emphasis on playing like a team and treating one another like a family.” She comments on further saying both teams did well in the Fair Grove tournament. This year’s group of eighth graders have placed the bars high for future games. The seventh graders have continued to improve and work hard.

Maddie Clark a current eighth grader, has played volleyball since she was in third grade, talks about how she has played with this group of teammates for the past few years. Everyday since school has been in session the volleyball players have practiced after school. She says “Overall we have really worked toward being a team. Determined to do better than what we have in previous years. Some of the players are new and haven’t had a lot of experience, in this way it is like our job to help all of us work together.” After this year Clark says she would like to play volleyball in high school and eventually into college.

Martin says there are many vocal lead players including “. . . Marannatha Holliman and Maddie Clark, our setters, do an excellent job setting our hitters up and getting the ball where it needs to go. For seventh grade, both of my setters, Haylee Wingo and Rayannen Marion, are really good at helping us set up what we want to do offensively and making sure we are in rotation correctly. . .” Martin added that she was very impressed with her team’s work ethic, stating, “I just hope that the seventh graders continue to work hard and get the little things right. They’ve been working so hard, I think they’ll get there. The eighth graders are a talented group of girls who just need to keep improving and sharpening their skill set.” She says the girls all work well together proving teamwork is just what they need to make this year a good one.