By Chris Parker
Hurley volleyball will look to climb back above .500 this season after finishing 11-15-2 last year. To do that, the Tigers will have to replace six players. That includes two graduated seniors in Joanna Moody and Anna Lowery along with four other players that moved.
The key returning players are: juniors Lexie Small, Maraya Schimmels, Mylee Chamberlain and Kourtney Fausset along with sophomores Lauren Green and Ashley Robertson. Small led the team in digs with 246 and serve percentage last year. She was named second-team all-conference for her efforts. Schimmels led the team in assists with 217.
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Some freshmen could make an impact on varsity, but the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their time on the court.
“Ninth graders coming up had their spring junior high volleyball season cut short because of COVID,” Hurley head coach Brent Moody said. “Normally that season transitions right into high school open gyms late in the spring semester, but those too were canceled. This will have an impact for sure on the younger players.”
Moody returns as head coach at Hurley this year. He was previously head coach for 23 years then came back to assist former head coach Laken Walden. Walden is now at Spokane.
“I expect to be competitive in our conference,” Moody said. “We hope to place in our conference tournament and be above .500 for the season. It will be tough as our conference has toughened up somewhat.”
Hurley will open the season on Aug. 28 at Fordland.
