Highland Christian Academy heads into the fall volleyball season with two years of experience. This year marks the third that Anthony Favors will coach the team.
Favors saw his group struggle in their first season, finishing 2-10. However, perseverance began to pay dividends in year number two. The team finished 7-6 and nearly qualified for the State B tournament. This year, expectations are even higher as the girls set their goals to reach state.
Senior Sarah Brown will lead the team as the top outside hitter.
Sarah is a floor general who leads by example, said Favors. Shes a well rounded player and definitely one of our top hitters.
Opposite Brown will be junior Chelsey Graber. Grabers natural athleticism should stand out on the floor.
Chelsey is a gifted athlete, said her coach. We can plug her in anywhere and she will fit in fine.
Chelseys sister Kaila Graber, also a junior, will hold down the middle for the squad.
Kaila has tremendous ability passing the ball. She covers a lot of ground on defense. Wherever the ball is at, she is at.
Junior setter Aly Hodges will quarterback the team, getting all the front row players involved in the offense. According to her coach Hodges is a phenomenal athlete who gets to a lot of balls all over the court.
The wildcard for the group will be freshman Bethany Fuller. Fuller, while young, possesses a lot of raw talent that Favors hopes to harness in the upcoming season.
Bethany plays with tremendous enthusiasm and has a nose for the ball, he said. We expect big things from her this year.
Another relative newcomer is junior middle blocker Tia Brekveldt. Brekveldt is playing volleyball for the first time. Despite her inexperience, Brekveldt has exceptional athleticism and her development will be critical to the teams success.
Our theme for this year is The right way, said Favors. Weve gone into the season not worrying about wins and losses, or what other teams are doing. Were going to do everything right, practice, stretching, drills. We fully expect that the results will come.
Favors is originally from Phoenix where he coached club volleyball for three years before moving to Highland. He likes the potential of this years team but knows it will take a lot of hard work and some luck to make it to the top.
Its an interesting dynamic but theres no reason why we shouldnt make state.
That kind of optimism bodes well for the group as they look to continue their ascent in the Northwest B League standings.