Greenbrier West is riding a seven-year streak of state tournament appearances and the Cavaliers have every intention of making it eight.
There are plenty of reasons for the confidence.
“There are pictures of the state championship teams on the wall in the gym, but there are no girls teams up there as state champions,” head coach Joe Robertson said. “It would be great to be the first girls team to be there. There is a lot of work between here and there, but we made a lot of strides last year.”
While there is a wealth of talent returning in Charmco, Greenbrier West will need to find replacements for two all-staters lost to graduation in outside hitter Kadie O’Dell and setter Riley Robertson.
Maddie Sweet will step into the setter position and the second-year head coach is confident she can get the job done at arguably the most crucial position on the floor.
“Maddie is a sophomore now and she will do really good there. She has the physical ability, but she had some confidence issues last year,” Robertson said. “It was good that she got to set behind Riley and watch. A lot of setting is about decision making in certain situations. That was probably where Riley was at her best. Maddie can now apply those skills to her physical ability. She has great setter hands and is super quick as well as athletic. She is also a little taller and can jump, so if we run a 5-1 Maddie can likely score some points up at the net for us.”
Replacing O’Dell will not be easy considering she was a force at the net and played a full rotation for the Cavaliers.
“You don’t find many 6-foot-1 starters in single-A volleyball. We will lose some size there for sure,” Robertson said. “We were kicking around some ideas early on this summer before Abigail Thomas hurt her knee last week. She may be out for the season and that will narrow down the options some.”
Originally one of the hitting options was moving senior Paige Dean from the middle to the outside. With Thomas injured, Dean will likely go back to the middle where she wreaked havoc on opposing attackers in her first year of high school volleyball a season ago.
“Paige is really good in the middle. When we can set the middle, she is really effective there,” Robertson said. “We have been working on the slide with her. You don’t see much slide around here, especially in single-A. Teams aren’t used to it. She is getting good at it and I think it will be a good weapon for us.”
Now Robertson will likely turn to a pair of freshman, Preslie Shrewsbery and Kaylee Martin, to handle a portion of the crucial outside attack this year.
“They played outside in middle school and during travel ball for Club Attack, but both are only 5-4 or 5-5,” Robertson said. “We have always rode our outside hitters, so I am a little nervous with a freshman out there, but they are confident. Both of them will swing and they are both aggressive. I think that comes from playing travel ball which is a step up from middle school. When we scrimmaged at James Monroe, they both did well. They attack the ball and they are confident.”
The young freshman duo will have the luxury of working along side first team all-stater Preslee Treadway who Robertson feels is primed for another big year.
“Preslee is just killing the ball on the outside. She will be one of the best hitters in our area regardless of class,” Robertson said. “She is hitting it so good and hitting the lines good. She is also hitting the sharp cross good. Preslee is also reading the defense really well.”
Junior Ava Price is a versatile player with great jumping ability who will add more strength to the front row.
“Ava jumps like a deer and will do great there. The right side (hitter) might be decided by who we are playing,” Robertson admitted. “I have some girls that do better if the other team has a good outside hitter. The others may be better if I don’t have to worry about the outside hitter. That will probably be a position that changes throughout the season.”
Senior Megan Griffith played limited minutes as a defensive specialist her freshman year before anchoring the back row the last two seasons as the libero.
“Megan loves volleyball more than anything. She would be here every day, 365 days a year playing if she could,” Robertson said. “She is our team leader out there and she is our energy. Megan directs traffic and is like a little ball of fire out there.”
Junior Brooklyn Adkins is also expected to be a stalwart on the back row this year for Greenbrier West, who will also throw a couple of freshman into the mix.
“Brooklyn hustles and gives 100 percent all of the time. I love how she talks and she is one of our best communicators back there. Brooklyn will also play on the front row some,” Robertson said. “Half of our team is freshman this year, so there will be some growing pains this season, but we will get through it. They will have to grow up quick.”
