Neill Kirkpatrick
Special to the HSSR
Andrews – The Lady Yellowjackets of Andrews have been a consistent playoff representative from region 8 AA, but they have not been able to get past the first round so when first year head coach Joy Weisner took the reins, she made some changes to hopefully get over that stumbling block.
“With this being my first season as the volleyball coach at Andrews High, I am focused on building the volleyball program. One of the greatest challenges has been breaking bad habits,” said coach Weisner. “This year we focused on discipline and teamwork. We got into the weight room and had summer practices for the first time in four years. We consistently had about 30 girls come out all summer. We focused on becoming stronger and faster.”
The Lady Yellowjackets return six players from last year’s team so coach Weisner had a good nucleus from which to build the team around. She also has some experience as seven of her squad are seniors.
The seven seniors are Mary Hannah Morris, Molly Morris, Caitlyn Taylor, Liz Santos, Harmony Burke, Maddie Berry, and Mia Martinez.
“I’m proud of the senior class. They have shown leadership and the willingness to embrace a new coaching style,” coach Weisner said. “I am also excited about the group of players that will be moving up next year, along with the young returners I have on varsity this year. They are buying in to my coaching style and they understand and are willing to work to become better.”
Some of the younger girls coach is talking about are juniors Samiyah Holloway and Makagen Dangerfield, sophomores Addyson Davis and Grace Brather, freshman Chloe Skipper and eighth grader Tori Smith.
The Lady Yellowjackets are still working on getting the best combination of starters so while they are going through that process everyone is gaining valuable playing time and experience.
“We are 2-1 in region play right now. We have two full weeks of volleyball with four games this week and three games next week. When we play as a team, we are great, but we struggle with being consistent in our game play. There is always room for improvement. I am confident in my team when it comes to region play”, said Coach Weisner.
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