As students flooded out of the doors after a long first day of school on August 4th, the volleyball team headed to the gym for another practice preparing for their first game in less than a week. Everyone involved in the program this year is expecting a different outcome compared to previous years, the buzz around the program is legit.
After a rough 12-15 finish last year where the girls only won two out of their seven region games and missed out on the playoffs for the third year in a row, a change was much needed. The girls volleyball team experienced a huge switch up when their new, well-experienced, head coach was hired. Dun Hahn served as a volunteer assistant coach at Georgia State for two years. Hahn also served as one of the lead court coaches and evaluators at USA Volleyball national tryouts. He has high expectations for the girls this season. “My goals for the season are to win the region and make a run in the state tournament,” Hahn said. “Whatever it takes.”
Every year high school sports teams are faced with the challenge of replacing their seniors, but for the lady dubs that doesn’t seem to be an issue at all. Key returning players include senior defensive specialist Riley Hutchinson, senior opposite hitter Samantha Bailey (CBU Commit), senior middle blocker Brooke Hill, and senior outside hitter Laila Amos (UTEP commit). This group of young ladies are trusted to help the program take the next big step.
Although winning games is very important, every team must have leaders. Senior Riley Hutchinson aims to help fill shoes of past leaders. This is Hutchinson’s third year on varsity where she played in almost every game in her Junior year campaign. Being a senior on the team brings along a responsibility outside of just winning games. “As a senior you take up a role of leadership, especially as a mentor to the younger girls,” she said.
With such a strong roster of returning players, it’s impossible to miss the two early commits Samantha Bailey (CBU) and Laila Amos (UTEP). Both players were starters last season and although their season didn’t go as planned, they have been working harder than ever since then to set themselves up for a successful senior season. “This season we have a lot more discipline, it’s going to be hard to stop us,” Bailey said.
Soon enough we will see the lady dubs slashing their way through region play and spiking down any opponent who stands in their way of a state title. Go Dubs!
