By Chris Parker

Fall 2019 Preview: Webb City Volleyball

By Chris Parker

Webb City volleyball graduated six players from last season’s 20-win squad that lost to Carl Junction in the opening round of district play. That productive group will be tough to replace in all facets.

“The tough part of losing those seniors is their fun personalities, love for the game and yet their will to work. They loved to be challenged and they were just a great group of girls that were close for so long it made chemistry on the court come easy,” Webb City head coach Rhonda Lawrence said.

Anna Swearengen will be one of the team’s leaders this season. She led the team in kills as a junior with 173 and will return to her outside hitter role this year.

“Anna is a huge piece of our offense, but her leadership is in her ability to get the job done without saying much. Her focus and ‘poker face’ helps her not to be reactionary but she calculates where the ball needs to go to get the kill. Sometimes when I see her in the middle of a rally you can tell she’s just done with the rally going on and the look on her face is terminate,” Lawrence said.

Classmates Talyn Smith and Ashley Cates also return to the varsity lineup.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE FALL SPORTS PREVIEWS

Smith will return to her spot in the middle after finishing second on the team in blocks last season with 31.

“(Smith) is a returning letterman that I feel has worked very hard in the weight room and continues to develop as a player and athlete. Her love-to-play factor and always wanting to make a huge impact any opportunity she gets. I believe she is a big factor in continuing our charisma on the court and high work ethic. She’s had a great summer and really gotten better each year, this is no exception,” Lawrence said.

Cates will be an outside hitter this year.

“(Cates) got a little time last year but club season really stepped her up to a new level. She’s probably the most competitive in the gym and her instinct to touch balls and court sense makes us a little better all around the court,” Lawrence said.

Juniors Maddy Peeples (outside hitter/right side) and Sage Crane (libero) also bring back varsity experience.

Peeples was an all-district selection last year who put down 137 kills for the Lady Cardinals.

“Her threat as a lefty makes a whole new impact as why she ended up playing last year so much. Her quick arm swing is hard to block let alone dig. She is always going to be a big threat as a pivotal player for us,” Lawrence said.

Senior Jasmine Putman will round out the varsity lineup in the middle.

Some teams may overlook the Lady Cardinals because of all the talent that walked across the stage at graduation last spring.

That would be a mistake.

“I think we’re going to surprise a lot of teams because everyone expects them to be ‘inexperienced’ forgetting that they played in practice every day in the trenches with the talent we had and they always made it an intense fight and that’s part of why we were as good last year. Now it’s their turn to shine,” Lawrence said.

Webb City will travel to Mt. Vernon on Aug. 29 for a jamboree with the host Lady Mountaineers, Clever and College Heights. The Lady Cardinals open the regular season on Sept. 3 at home against Bentonville West.