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The Berryville Lady Bobcats officially opened their 2024 volleyball season on Monday, Aug. 26, but coach Kristin Whetham liked what she saw in a preseason preview a week earlier.
The Lady Bobcats swept four sets from Thaden at Bobcat Gym in a benefit match on Monday, Aug. 19.
“I was very pleased with what I saw from our performance,” Whetham said. “Obviously there’s always room for improvement but overall, we just had better team chemistry, which is kind of what we were going for this year.”
With just two seniors on the roster — Addie Ashford and Kynadee Hopper — the Lady Bobcats are still relatively young. But depth isn’t an issue. Asked about individual performances against Thaden, Whetham listed a slew of Lady Bobcats who played well — starting with Hopper.
“She hit the ball real well,” Whetham said. “(Thaden) had one really good player. I told Kynadee and (junior) Haliegh Keith: ‘I want you to man up on her. Wherever she’s at on the floor, you’re just going to stand in front of her.’ … Once they figured that out, we were getting tips and touches on her balls left and right. So, both of them really played well.”
Whetham also had praise for junior setter Paige Thurman, junior outside hitters Kaylyn Smith, Cara Summers, Ivie Bickel and Tessa Johnson, junior libero Hannah Campbell and junior right side hitter Hailey Howerton.
Smith missed all of last season with a broken hand, but showed no signs of jitters in her return, Whetham said.
“I was kind of nervous,” Whetham said. “I thought maybe she’d come in and play a little bit timid, but she didn’t. She came in and was aggressive on the net.”
Whetham also was pleased with how her team adjusted to a new defensive strategy.
“I really don’t have any negatives,” Whetham said. “We put in a new defensive rotation that I felt would suit this group better than what we’ve done in a while. We’re not real big, so we’ve got to be able to defend the ball better because I don’t have a lot at the net to get blocks and touches. So I’ve kind of put in a new defensive rotation. Overall, they’ve really caught on and really, really done a good job with it.”
Berryville will travel to Gravette for a conference match on Thursday, Aug. 29. The Lady Bobcats’ first regular- season home match will be on Tuesday, Sept. 3, when they host Huntsville.
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