With their first game still more than a week away, the W.S. Neal Lady Eagles are steadily working towards that game.
“The girls are working real hard,” W.S. Neal Lady Eagle head coach Jeff Haney said. “It has been a learning experience for me as I am just now getting started in volleyball. It has been hot but the girls have put forth a lot of effort weightlifting earlier in the summer. They have continued on since we have started practice.”
Earlier in the summer, Haney and the Lady Eagles participated in Flomaton High School’s summer bash tournament where they played eight games in two days.
“We had the tournament over in Flomaton and the girls enjoyed that,” Haney said. “They got a lot of good out of it and it really helped me. It showed us what we needed to work on and we have made improvements since that tournament and that is what we are looking for and to get out of that.”
Haney said his 2011 team will be lacking varsity playing experience.
“We have some key players that have really stepped up,” Haney said. “We were kind of questioning what they would help us with this year and they have really solidified what they are going to do. The young players have stepped in and filled their spots. We only have two seniors so we do not have a lot of varsity experience. Really, only three of the girls out here have varsity experience from last year and that was very limited play. It is kind of a learning experience for them to play at the varsity level. That is another thing the Flomaton tournament helped.”
While the girls have been in the gym practicing a lot, they have not been in their high school gym on their own court yet.
“Right now we are sharing the gym with the middle school as our gym is still under construction (air conditioners being put in and floor/court work),” Haney said. “We will be in there next week and it will be helpful for us to get our on place and do our own things and not interrupt the middle school team and them interrupt us. We are going to play together but it is still where we would like to have our own spot and not interfere with them.”
W.S. Neal will begin their season Tuesday, Aug. 23, on the road at Flomaton.
A season preview for the 2011 W.S. Neal Lady Eagle team will come closer to the first game date.