GREENE COUNTY
Since the GHSA-mandated “dead week” period at the beginning of July, the Lake Oconee Academy volleyball program has been making strides toward becoming a better team.
Last season, the Lady Titans finished the regular season with a 12-15 record. They found success during region play, where they finished 7-3 and third in Area 5-A.
Unfortunately for the Lady Titans, they fell to Mount Pisgah Christian in straight sets in the first round of the state playoffs.
Looking ahead, head coach Chris Ingle told the Lake Oconee News that this group of girls is dedicated and wants to finish better than it did last season.
“It’s been the best offseason our team has had in years, and we actually just finished up with a team bonding day,” Ingle said. “We’ve been practicing all summer since dead week, and we recently had our Gold Medal Squared camp like we do every summer. We have a very young team but have more commitment than I’ve seen in a while. The excitement level is through the roof, so however the wins and losses shake out, we’re extremely excited to start the year.”
Ingle does have a young team coming up after seniors Whitney Cannon, Love Kalpak and Raine Ansley just graduated from the squad.
The Lady Titans will look to replace those starting libero and middle hitter roles, but the incoming class is hungry to take over.
Lea Elay, Victoria Goubran, and Ellie Daniel will both rotate at the middle hitter position, while Serenity Jackson and rising freshman Jordan Klevansky will compete for the libero spot.
Other players like outside hitter Chloe Manville and golf phenom Kallyn Black look to step into bigger roles as well and lead the team to positive results.
The Lady Titans haven’t competed much against outside competition this summer either.
Ingle believes that practicing internally will help this year’s team be more prepared for the season opener.
Lake Oconee Academy will scrimmage Prince Avenue at the beginning of the first week of school. Other than that, the Titans are ready for the first serve of the season.