Oglethorpe County’s volleyball team is gearing up for the season with new faces, new attitudes and a new region. Despite the departure of key seniors, coach Brianne Harrison said she thinks the Patriots will be just fine.
They have been practicing twice a week during the summer. Harrison said she has been happy with the attendance at each practice, averaging 10-12 players out of a total 18.
The Patriots open the season at Hart County on Aug. 13. The varsity home opener is Aug. 20 against Westminster Christian and East Jackson.
Harrison has spent the summer working on fundamentals, emphasizing ball control and defensive skills. But she said communication is where the most important work has been focused.
“When you’re talking to your teammates, you minimize errors, you’re encouraging,” she said. “That’s what volleyball should be. If you ever watch competitive college games or even high school games, the most successful teams are the ones that are the best communicators and encourage each other the whole time.”
Harrison said team chemistry is “better than last year,” an opinion senior setter Sofia Horsley shares.
“I can tell a difference in the summer,” she said. “All of the girls are super nice. I feel like they are willing to come to practice and look in the long run of how they want the season to look.”
Horsley said having new faces is “good for everyone” because it means new friends, but it also means fresh talent, like freshman outside hitter Leanna Newton.
Newton will be the only freshman on the team this season. Harrison said Newton will fill the vacant role of powerful hitter Madi Kelley, who graduated in May.
Harrison praised Newton’s hitting and serving, but she brings more to the team than just skill.
“She’s super competitive, and she wants to do well, and she is so coachable,” Harrison said. “She is just a really good teammate, and that’s one of her best qualities.”
“She has been my best friend forever,” junior outside hitter Elizabeth Cook said. “We’ve grown up together playing volleyball, and she has one of the best attitudes out there, and she’s always willing to help others, and she just shows up and is willing to work and get better.”
As a senior and one of the more vocal leaders, Horsely echoed the importance of having a good attitude.
“I’m definitely gonna try to be as happy as I can for the underclassmen, and I want to have a good season also,” she said. “This is my last season, I just want to leave it all on the court and just be happy and have a good time.”
Harrison is entering her second season as coach. Before that, she coached the middle school team for five seasons.
“There’s some of my seniors I’ve known since they were little baby sixth graders,” she said. “They started with me their very first season, and then they’re graduating this year, so it’s kind of sad.”
After going undefeated in area play in 2023, OCHS will compete in a new area this season.
“I hope that we have a more challenging schedule,” Harrison said. “There were some teams that we would play and it wasn’t much of a game, it wasn’t much of a challenge. So I think they’re ready for some more challenging matches this season.”
Area 8-A
- Athens Academy
- Athens Christian
- Banks County
- Barrow Arts & Sciences
- Commerce
- Elbert County
- Greene County
- Lake Oconee Academy
- Oglethorpe County
- Providence Christian
- Rabun County
- Tallulah Falls
- Washington-Wilkes