With the return of the volleyball program to Mansfield, the sport will be featured on two Wright County high school courts during the fall season.
Mansfield Lady Lions
For the first time since the 1990s, the Mansfield R-IV School District will have a volleyball program.
Hoping to return the Lady Lions to their past winning tradition will be head coach Emily Smith. Coach Smith is a 2011 graduate from Ava where she played four years. Her senior year squad held the school record for most single season victories. She later coached at Ava for two years (2018-2020) and her 2019 squad broke the record.
Smith went to Missouri State University and was a club volleyball coach in the winter months. Joining her as an assistant coach is her former player Claire James (Fossett).
“Volleyball has always been a part of my life and creating a respectful, hardworking team is something I’ve always strived for,” Smith said. “I push for my athletes to work at 100% of their ability not only in the gym but in the classroom as well…Having the opportunity to build a program from the ground up is very exciting. We are working day in and day out to create fundamentally sound habits. The workload is heavy at times, but seeing the outcome is so rewarding.”
Smith’s expectations this season is for her squad to compete in each and every game.
Offensively, the Lady Lions will use a 6-2 offense featuring Logan Jones (junior) and Madalyn Ivy (senior). Caige Henry (senior) will play in a utility role. Big blocks up the middle will come from junior transfer Harleigh Hodges and freshman Haven Tripp.
“Jones, Hodges, and Tripp all show great net understanding while Ivy and Henry have a natural athletic ability to make a play on the ball,” Smith said.
Defensively, the back row of freshman Ali Robertson and juniors Sadee Green and Lauren Jones will be key in the rotation.
The Lady Lions will open their season at home at 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 30 against Plato.
They will host new in county rival Mountain Grove at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sep. 2.
Mountain Grove
Lady Panthers
It was mostly a long season for Mountain Grove volleyball coach Ashley Martin in her first year with the Lady Panthers.
Her squad won just two matches in the first month and a half.
Fortunately, her squad started to hit their stride as the year came to close winning three of their final four regular season matches. They also picked up a big 3-0 win over Salem in districts.
“We bloomed pretty late last year, which was unfortunate,” Martin said. “However, I think it will benefit us going into this season, knowing we were so close to being able to compete with good teams but just falling short. They know what it’s going to take to actually compete for the entire game and to come out ahead. Our goal is to show up for each match and compete the entire time, not just for a few points at a time.”
Martin said she expects her team’s strong dynamic of working together and the hard work over the summer will help her Lady Panthers’ success.
They do return a strong senior class that features Claire Felker (libero), Addy Welch (setter), Claire Nelson (middle) and Tory Thompson (right side). Martin said Felker will be in charge on defense. Welch will be running the offense while Nelson will provide a solid block up the middle. Thompson is coming back from an injury and is expected to make an impact. Their lone junior, Reagan Hoerning (outside), will provide a solid all-around presence for Mountain Grove. Other key players include sophomores Campbell Welch (middle), Jozey MacPherson (right side), Kaily Wake (middle/outside) and freshman Raylee Stenzel (outside).
Offensively, the team will set up in a 5-1 with Welch as the setter. Hoerning will be in the rotation along with Stenzel, Welch, Nelson, MacPherson and Thompson.
Defensively, the team focused on its blocking and defense in the summer and preseason.
“I feel like that was one of our biggest weaknesses last year and is something I would love to improve on,” Martin said.
“You can’t have good defense if you don’t have a good block to play behind. So we have really been focused on setting the block up correctly and doing the little things right so that we can be successful with keeping balls off of the floor.”
Mountain Grove opens their season on the road at 5:30 p.m. against Fordland on Monday, Aug. 30. Their first home match is against Coach Martin’s former team, Licking, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sep. 7.
