Last year, the Lady Cat’s varsity volleyball team made it to state for the first time since the 90’s. They have improved more and more each year. This year the volleyball program added the junior cats for middle school age girls to start learning volleyball early. This will implement the basics of volleyball at an earlier age so that future teams will be more skilled and successful. After the teams are determined the lady cats will start practicing in the gym at East cobb middle school.

Tryouts for the volleyball teams are held over the summer. Tryouts last four days. During tryouts, the girls are tested on the different aspects of volleyball including; hitting, passing, serving, and setting. Also the girls are required to run a mile in under ten minutes. Also over the summer, the girls are required to attend summer workouts in the mornings from eight to ten o’clock. The girls complete the workouts with the football players. These workouts include agility training on the field, as well as weight lifting in the weight room. This past summer, Wheeler hosted a summer camp for the team coached by Kennesaw State’s head volleyball coach Keith Schunzel. The girls learned and improved their volleyball skills using the intense drills provided.  The girls practice Monday through Friday every week right after school until six o’clock. Usually the girls spend the first part of practice to condition by running a mile. Next the coaches decide which skill the team should work on, and they set up drills to help the players improve, whenever the players fail to complete a task or drill the proper way, a small consequence is assigned.

This year the team is comprised of two freshmen, three sophomores, five juniors and one senior. Last year two seniors Rebekah Thomas and Angela Manherts graduated. Rebekah attends college at Kennesaw State University, and Angela attends Georgia State. The senior this year is Jacey Mollica. Jacey plays the middle back position, but she is skilled in other positions as well and is always ready to step up and use them. Jacey has been playing volleyball for four years at Wheeler and three of them on varsity. Jacey wants to go to college but is not yet sure where, she says “I have been thinking about GCSU, and I want to major in Sociology or Psychology, but I’m not completely sure yet.” Jacey has plans to coach rec league volleyball in the spring. One of her favorite memories is “When the team were eating at Chipotle after practice, and Angela and I saw a bee and she slapped it into Grace’s lap, and she didn’t know until she moved and it stung her. We laughed really hard and still laugh at it today!” A few players shared their thoughts about Jacey and what she brought to the team. One player says “Jacey is a beam of light like a ray of sunshine, she always finds a way to make me laugh whether she tries to or not.” Another player shared “Jacey is a really strong, solid player, and she brings her strong serves, great passes, and positive attitude which is really important because volleyball is a mental sport, if you believe you can do it or that you can win, you can, and Jacey is the perfect example of the correct volleyball mentality.” The last player says “Jacey is strong and works hard, she really motivates me to keep going and keep working hard even when I’m tired.” The lady cats will miss Jacey more than she knows!

Many of the players are super excited about this season. Ananda Williams in eleventh grade expresses that she is looking forward to improving her skills as an outside hitter, and having fun with the team. She really enjoys playing with the team and believes that this team has the potential to be amazing and definitely win. Ananda has been playing volleyball for three years. Michelle Nader is in eleventh grade and says “ I really like hanging out with the team and winning, that’s my favorite thing about volleyball.” When asked what she is most excited about, she replied “I’m looking forward to growing and improving as a team. I’m also really excited for team bonding, we always have a lot of fun.” Michelle has been playing for about four years, and is the setter for the team. Lastly Morgan Mcintosh in ninth grade shares that she really enjoys volleyball because she loves being able to bond and work together with players. This season Morgan looks forward to winning and improving her skills as a setter and hitter. Morgan has been playing volleyball for five years and this is her first year playing at wheeler and on varsity.