By Allen VanNess
Coming off a tough season last year that that ended with a 6-19 record, including an eighth-place finish in the Ozark Conference, the Rolla Lady Bulldogs are hoping to continue rebuilding and take another step in the right direction this season.
“I think we will be more balanced as far as size and speed,” Rolla head coach Luke Floyd said. “Another year of experience should allow us to do a few more things. Last year we were competitive in most of our games, and we hope to translate that into more wins this year.”
With the departures of graduating seniors Meredith Sowers, Caroline Victor, Sabrina Morris and Amanda Dillon from last season’s team, Floyd recognizes his younger players will have to step up.
“We are a young team, so losing their leadership will be huge,” said Floyd of his graduating seniors. “Our younger players will have to be more vocal and active leaders.”
While they are young overall, the Lady Bulldogs do return three starters from a season ago. Those returning are senior Addy Brow (7.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg), junior Mattie Dean (2.3 ppg) and sophomore Olivia Holmes (4.5 ppg).
Brow comes into this season after starting the past three years and is extremely athletic at the guard position, while Holmes started at the end of her freshman season and showed flashes of being a good player at the forward position.
Other varsity returners include senior Kelly Dupes, junior Allie Harmon and sophomore Kendra Cameron.
Along with the six returning varsity players from last season, Floyd also expects a number of newcomers to give the Lady Bulldogs more depth than they had last season.
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“We had a successful JV team last year that will have several players contribute on the varsity level this year,” said Floyd. “We also have a very good incoming freshmen class that will have several contributors are the varsity level.”
A few areas of strength for the young Lady Bulldogs seems to be their size, speed and depth coming into the season.
“We will have pretty good size and lots of speed,” Floyd said. “I also think depth will be a strength for us. We should be able to play lots of players which allows us to keep the pressure on our opponents.”
While building a program takes time and patience, Floyd can see his Lady Bulldogs are certainly headed in the right direction.
“I am excited about the season,” Floyd said. “We are slowly building our program and have seen great improvements the first two seasons. I believe we are on the cusp of breaking through. I think a 12 to 15 win season with a top half finish in the Ozark Conference and competing for a district title would signify a great season for us.”
The Rolla Lady Bulldogs begin their season on Nov. 19 when they host the Logan-Rogersville Wildcats in Rolla.
