-
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Newcastle’s Camren Mallory sets a ball at volleyball team camp Tuesday, July 29. Ladycats head coach Ashley Archer said fundamentals like setting were worked on heavily at two-a-day practices. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Katy McGehee, practices hitting during midnight madness Friday, Aug. 1. The team worked on basic fundamentals before transitioning into team scenarios during their first two-a-day practice. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Emma Hawkins works on setting a Ladycats volleyball camp Tuesday, July 29. Hawkins will be one of the returning veteran leaders for Newcastle this year. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Members of the Lady Blues pose during drills Friday, Aug. 1. The Lady Blues kicked off their two-a-day schedule with a midnight madness practice. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Members of the Ladycats work on passing at volleyball camp Tuesday, July 29. Ladycats head coach Ashley Archer said she was pleasantly surprised with the development of the freshmen coming into the season.
After months of anticipation and offseason programs the weight is finally over, the regular season for volleyball has come once again as Graham and Newcastle athletes kicked things off with their two-a-day practices.
For the Lady Blues, they really got off to the races wasting no time getting in the gym with their first ever midnight madness practice.
While most of the town was fast asleep in bed, a handful of cars could be seen in the main parking lot of Graham High School. The Lady Blues entered the school around 11:30 p.m. and we’re greeted by music, a Lady Blues volleyball (LBVB) display and photo area.
After the initial greeting and festivities were out of the way, the girls hit the court ready to train. They spent the early portions of the two hour practice session going over fundamentals like passing, serving and defense.
The newest freshmen to try out for the Lady Blues also got their height and wingspan measurements taken in order to better assess potential strengths on the court and optimal positions.
“We’re doing some evaluation stuff just to get hard numbers to look at when we start putting people on teams,” Lady Blues assistant coach Courtney Wright said.
Wright also went on to say that the Lady Blues leaned more into a fun and competitive side of things later on in the practice.
Wright said the team focused on running smaller four versus four style drills to have mini matches that give players in-game experience of situations while also allowing them to grow more versatile and play multiple positions.
Later in the morning when the sun came up, the Ladycats also took the court ready to build on their work from last season.
This was something that head coach Ashley Archer said caused the energy to be high in the Newcastle gym.
“The energy has been great,” Archer said. “You can tell the girls we’re excited to be back in the gym and around each other. There’s always a little nervousness with the first practice of two-a-days but they brought a good mix of intensity and focus. You can feel that they’re ready to work.”
While Graham took a break from practices Saturday, Aug. 2, following Friday mornings early practice, Newcastle had a tight plan laid out for both days.
The Ladycats ran what Archer called “mini clinics” working on specific skills. The team worked on blocking, serve receiving, and defense on day one while transitioning to hitting, serving and defense once again on day two.
Due to these all around skills clinics, the coaching staff has already spotted different elements of the game that need improvement for the Ladycats.
“One of the first things we noticed was that our ball control was a little rusty, so we’ll continue doing cooperative drills to tighten that up over the next few weeks,” Archer said.
However, if there’s one thing that’s been a pleasant surprise to Archer it’s been the Freshmen class stepping up.
“Our freshmen have really surprised us in a good way,” Archer said. “Compared to years past, this group is showing more potential early on. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them work their way into contributing at the varsity level as the season goes on.”
After taking Saturday and Sunday off, the Lady Blues resumed two-a-day practices Monday, Aug. 4.
The Ladycats practiced both Friday and Saturday, Aug. 1-2, and will continue to ramp up as the regular season approaches.
