By Josh Hall (josh.hall@ky3.com)
Molly Illum faces some unknowns as she takes over a Reeds Spring volleyball program that graduated five seniors from last year’s team that went 17-18 after falling to Marshfield in three sets in the first round of the Class 3, District 11 tournament.
But Illum, who coached at Springfield Central from 2004-2005, and again from 2010-2015, learned something important about the Lady Wolves from the get-go.
“Right away, I found out they were hard workers and they like a challenge, like competition,” Illum said. “I’m not exactly sure where we’ll go with that, but you have a good foundation to start from.”
Reeds Spring will have to replace starting setter Ashley Hill, who is now playing at Evangel after being selected as a unanimous pick to the First-Team All-Central Ozark Conference-Small team. The Lady Wolves also lose Maddie Bauer, who earned all-district honors for her play at libero.
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“To lose two key positions, and then to try to fill it with girls that played JV last year is going to be hard,” Illum said. “But the good thing about that is it’s always good to see girls compete for a position that they’ve been wanting. They watched really good players play at those positions.”
Reeds Spring also graduated Lindsey Yocum (S), Ashley Winn (M), and Lydia Gasper (DS), from a year ago, but the Lady Wolves do bring back four players that saw significant time at the varsity level.
Seniors Maggie Daniels (113 kills, 42 aces, 77 digs) and Mackenzie Lewallen (108 kills) return as outside hitters. Lauren Brown (48 digs), another senior, is back as a defensive specialist, along with sophomore middle hitter Carly Eakins (130 kills, 33 blocks).
Kyndall Porter (junior S), Kalena Asbill (junior S), Kamryn Hopper (sophomore DS), Jadyn Fleetwood (junior) and Marisa Hatcher (senior) are new to the mix and will compete for playing time.
Illum is confident those up-and-comers can get the job done.
“You hope that those in the JV program have used that time wisely,” Illum said. “Now it’s their chance. They can step up into that opportunity and do the best with it. So far, I’ve seen some really good underclassmen take on new, big responsibilities.”
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