Season overview: Tharptown volleyball

Kamri Fleming is the only volleyball coach in Franklin County that coached her team last year. All other schools underwent a coaching change in the off-season. Fleming, a volleyball player in high school at Tharptown, gives the Wildcats a stable veteran in charge of the program.

One thing Fleming expects from her team is more wins.

“I expect more wins from our girls this season,” said Fleming. “Last year, we were very young, and only had two players to return from the previous season after graduating six seniors. It made for a really rocky season for us, but the girls understood we were young and inexperienced on the varsity level. This year will be different for us, and I am excited to see it play out.”

Fleming said that hitting the ball with power and consistency will be a must for the Wildcats if they want to achieve their goals.

“We know that putting the ball away was our biggest struggle last season, and we are going to have to do that in order to have success in the winning category. We have focused a lot on hitting this off-season and at practice, and the girls have come a long way,” Fleming explained.

“Last year, we struggled with hitting, not because we couldn’t do it, but because we were still young and hadn’t gained a lot of confidence in our hitting abilities yet. This year should be different because we are entering the season experienced, confident and a lot stronger.”

Fleming is encouraged about the direction of the program because of her team’s love of the game.

“Most of the girls on this team truly love the game of volleyball and have put in a lot of work this summer,” said Fleming. “Most importantly they love each other and they get along so well. They cheer for each other, push each other and have started holding each other accountable and it shows on the floor when they play.

“It gives me a good feeling going into the new season to see how hard they’re going to compete against other teams, just by seeing how hard they have been pushing and competing against each other this summer.”

ROSTER

No. 1 Charlie Sue Montgomery
No. 2 Kaleigh Massey
No. 4 Carly Cason
No. 6 Karrah Nichols
No. 7 Leslie Perez
No. 8 Malia McCullar
No. 9 Angie Chavez
No. 10 Alyssa Dalrymple
No. 13 Leonela Vela-Jaquez
No. 14 Harleigh Borden
No. 17 Krymson Tverberg
No. 18 Kaden Woodard
No. 24 Ashton Tharp