The start of the volleyball season has been a bit up and down for the Eureka Springs Lady Highlanders.
“We’re kind of rocky right now … trying to figure each other out,” coach James McVay said after the team’s first two games, losses to Thaden and Mulberry.
McVay said the team was competitive in its opener against Thaden on Aug. 23 but underestimated Mulberry on the road onAug. 25.
“We were pretty competitive against Thaden,” said McVay, who is in his fourth season in his second stint as the Eureka Springs coach. “They’ve got a pretty good team. They’ve always finished the top three or four in our conference since I’ve been in Eureka. We lost in straight sets, but I wasn’t too disappointed in the way that we played. [Against Mulberry] we just couldn’t get anything working. We got down and I think the girls kind of got so frustrated that they just kind of shut down … they tried to fight back there at the end, but it was just too late.
“I really think that we were underestimating Mulberry. We’ve just got to keep our head straight and play our game and not try to anticipate what the outcome is going to be or should be.”
The Lady Highlanders lost three games in a tournament at Yellville over the weekend, but McVay said he “saw improvements from the start to the end.”
Senior hitter Kalah Edwards is the “quiet leader” of the team, McVay said. The coach also mentioned senior Julie McGarrah, senior Larrah Leavell, sophomore Breanna Ray, sophomore Abi Killion and senior Natalia Money as key contributors.
“From last year, I lost both my setters,” Mc-Vay said. “So, my setters are really young as far as skill-wise and age, and we’re just trying to get them kind of groomed and where they need to be.
“So, my hitters are having trouble adjusting to them because they’re inconsistent right now.”
Eureka Springs has had a busy week. The Lady Highlanders played their first home game of the season on Monday,Aug. 29 againstAlpena, traveled to Life Way Christian in Centerton on Tuesday, Aug. 30 and to Founders Classical in Rogers onThursday, Sept. 1.
A Sept. 6 match-up against Decatur will be the first of nine consecutive home appearances. The Lady Highlanders won’t go on the road again until Oct. 4 when they finish the season with six straight road games before opening 2A-West district tournament play Oct. 17 at Mulberry.
“Hopefully we can build some confidence [with the home games],” McVay said.
The top four teams in the district tournament qualify for the Class 2A state tournament, something the Lady Highlanders have never done, McVay said.
“We’re definitely going to have to probably beat Thaden next time we play them and then we’ll have to take at least one game from Lifeway Christian,” McVay said. “But, where I’m looking at, we’re probably going to fall in between like the four, five or six seed probably.”
