By Josh Hall
The Stockton High School volleyball team wants to take a step forward from last year.
The Lady Tigers went 6-21-3 in 2016 after falling to Lamar in three sets in the first round of the Class 2 District 11 tournament.
Stockton goes in to the new year with a more experienced team after only losing one senior in second-team Mid-Lakes Conference selection Sierra Kennedy.
“They want to go further than we did last year,” head coach Amanda Walton said in an early-July phone interview. “They want to go for having that district title and making some progress in tournaments and have, hopefully, a winning season.”
Walton enters her first season at the helm at Stockton after serving as an assistant for the last two. She was the head coach at Exeter the year before.
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“They know that I have high expectations,” Walton said. “I expect them to put in 110 percent and really put it all out on the floor, not just for themselves, but for their teammates. They know I expect them to be able to play for the person next to them.”
Returning from last year will be senior middle/outside hitter Lauren Rhodes, junior libero Carly Fox and sophomore middle hitter/setter Katelyn Creek.
New to the mix is senior setter Caitlyn Duncan, who transferred to Stockton this year, and sophomore middle/outside hitter Lauren Fold.
Walton has not had all of her team together at once this summer, but is confident in putting the rest of the pieces together closer to the season.
So far, Walton has been pleased with the Lady Tigers this summer.
“I am liking what I’m seeing,” she said. “There are a lot of good things coming from our team.”
