Some years you may have a lot of returning players, some years you have only a few.
But Pinecrest volleyball coach Barbara Foxx says that this is the first time she has ever had only one varsity holdover from the previous season.
The Patriots opened at Lee County on Wednesday. Tonight they entertain Union Pines at 6 p.m. at Southern Middle School, which will be their home until the new gym floor at Pinecrest is ready. The junior varsity squads tip off at 5 p.m.
The 2001 year was another in a string of successful ones. The team finished tied for second place in the Mid-Southeastern Conference with a record of 14-3 and won the conference tournament. It finished 18-8 overall and lost to Raleigh Sanderson in the first round of the state 4-A playoffs.
Fourth-year varsity player Linda Hassenfelt is the sole returnee from that squad. Siedah Lee was due to return, but moved to Florida.
“It’s a young team, but we’ve got good athletes,” Foxx said. “I think we are going to be able to hold our own.”
A defensive specialist a year ago, Hassenfelt is one of the candidates for the key setter position. Last year’s junior varsity setters Samantha Oldham and Sarah Edwards, both juniors, and senior Star Wilson, will also be competing for time at the position.
The bigger challenge may be to find replacements for graduated players like Anna Daniels, Tiffany Ovbey and Nikki Dobbins, who helped give the Patriots a very physical presence at the net for the last two years.
Six-foot senior Jessica Bush, senior Allison Vicars, and sophomores Ashley Craven and Latesha Taylor are expected to fill the middle blocker roles. The outside hitters will come from seniors Claudia Schwarz, an exchange student from Germany, Katherine McGarrah and sophomores Stephanie Carter and Jennifer Brophy. Junior Christine Pahl and McGarrah are defensive specialists.
Foxx saw some signs that the team already has a leader when the Patriots played Wilmington Laney, Southwestern Randolph and Lumberton in scrimmages last Saturday.
“No matter how things went, Linda stayed positive and encouraged the players,” she said. “By her experience of watching others lead for four years, I think she’ll be strong enough to lead our team.”
Hassenfelt talked about the scope of the challenge of developing as a team with an inexperienced group that includes six seniors, three juniors and four sophomores.
”It’s going to be a lot different, because last year we had all seniors and two juniors,” she said. “We are all from different grades and don’t know each other that well. We are going to have to bond and learn to work together as a team.”
The Patriots more than held their own in the scrimmages. The competition level will be tougher when they face last year’s conference champion and a favorite to repeat, Seventy-First.
“We are serving tough and we’re returning serve pretty well,” Foxx said. “It will be important to keep our confidence up while we are learning how to play together.”
Aug. 16 — Union Pines; 22 — Lee County; 27 — at Richmond; 29 — Westover.
Sept. 3 — at Jack Britt; 5 — Douglas Byrd; 6 — at Union Pines; 10 — Hoke; 12 — at Seventy-First; 17 — Scotland; 19 — Richmond; 21 — at Laney/Chapel Hill; 24 — at Westover; 26 — Jack Britt.
Oct. 1 — at Douglas Byrd; 3 — at Hoke; 8 — Seventy-First; 10 — at Scotland; 14-17 — Conference tournament.
