By Chris Parker
Fair Grove volleyball won 13 matches last year with a young team that featured just two seniors who played in more than 45 sets.
The Lady Eagles are poised to take a big step forward this year and get back above .500 and make a run in the post-season.
“Experience and consistency are what our program has been working towards the past few years,” Fair Grove head coach Tonya Peck said. “This year’s group has both of those key components. I truly believe they have what it takes to compete at the level that Fair Grove Volleyball has been known for. Even last season, this young group took many great teams to four and five sets, barely falling short of getting those wins. We were right at the door. This summer has shown that this core group of girls are ready to throw the door wide open and sprint to competing at a high level of competition.”
Kameron Green will be integral to Fair Grove’s success this year. The senior put down 320 kills on his way to an all-state selection last year.
“Kameron will continue to be a threat at the net for us and has the potential for another great year. She has excellent court awareness that makes her dangerous for our opponents. Toward the end of last season, we saw Kam open up her game and become very aggressive in her placements of her hits. We have continued to see that in the off-season and throughout the summer. Also, with the continued growth of her teammates around her, we expect to see her game at the net open up even more,” Peck said. “We look to Kam to continue to lead on and off the court. But more importantly, we expect her to make others around her better.”
Allison Findley earned second-team all-conference honors after she finished second on the team with 213 total kills. She was first on the team with 293 digs. Findley is now a two-time all-conference honoree entering her junior year.
“Alli does so many good things for our team,” Peck said. “She has many assets, but what we feel like is the greatest is her work ethic and commitment to learning the game. She practices at full effort in every drill in every practice. She is such a great role model to her teammates and leads by example.”
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The offense will run through all-conference honorees Brooke Daniels (sophomore) and Hannah Maxwell (junior) once again. The duo split setting duties last year and accounted for 456 and 441 assists, respectively. They both will also play right side. Daniels accounted for 154 kills while Maxwell had 140.
“As a coach, it has been such a relief to have two returning varsity setters. And these two aren’t your average returnees. Both Hannah and Brooke received all-conference and all-district honors last year as a sophomore and freshman. I am beyond excited to continue to work with these two to clean up and quicken up our offense. What is special about these two is not just how they successfully run our offense but that they are a vital part to the hitting aspect of the offense as well,” Peck said. “Hannah and Brooke have both improved on many things but the most noticeable for us is their quicker transition. This is allowing us to work on a more explosive and quick offense. Their effort to be quicker has also pushed their teammates to step up as well.”
Junior defensive specialist/utility player Faith Klindworth returns for her junior season. She will be moving from her spot as a middle.
“She (Klindworth) has stepped up in the defensive specialist role over the summer and is doing great things for the team,” Peck said. “Faith loves the game and is a hard worker. We are excited to see her leadership grow as she controls our passes and defense.”
All-district honoree Ashton Bell will be at outside hitter in her sophomore season.
“She (Bell) has worked very hard this off-season and summer on some technical skills that are showing up in big ways on the court,” Peck said. “Ashton is a huge competitor and we look for her to help bring that edge come game time.”
Sophomores Shea Skouby (MH/OH) and Abbey Green (MH/OH) are two more players looking to contribute on varsity.
“Shea Skouby and Abbey Green round out this talented group,” Peck said. “These two work so well together and bring more height and athleticism to our team. They have had a great summer and contributed to the team in big ways.”
This year’s version of Fair Grove volleyball has spent a ton of time together on and off the court, which has created a great chemistry.
“This group of girls are close on and off the court and have a good connection with each other,” Peck said. “That type of connection tends to produce successful seasons. As a coach, my favorite thing to see in any team is when players truly get excited for the success of their teammates. This group competes and gets more excited for each other than any group I have had in a while. Another strength we have is how versatile many of our players are. We have a core group of eight girls that participated in varsity games over the summer and all eight could effectively play back row or front row on any given night.”
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Fair Grove will host a jamboree on Aug. 23 with Parkview, Rogersville and Republic. The Eagles open the regular season on Aug. 27 at the Branson Tournament.
“After much team discussion this summer, the girls have decided that our sights are set high,” Peck said. “We don’t want to just compete with the good teams, we want to beat those good teams. My expectations as a coach are also high for this group. They have shown us that they have the desire and drive to be a championship team and we are ready to run with that energy.”
