Demopolis volleyball taking on new look in 2014

The Demopolis High School volleyball program will have almost an entirely new look in the 2014 season.

Angela Sanders takes over as the new head coach of the squad, succeeding Blythe Smith, who stepped down after taking her team to two area championships and three region tournament appearances in four seasons.

“I have been playing volleyball since I was walking. Both of my parents were players and coaches for the sport and all of my siblings played. I finished my volleyball career at the University of West Alabama,” Sanders, who coached the Demopolis Middle School team in 2013, said. “I dreamed of going on and playing for a professional team but, unfortunately, sustained injuries that held me back. I believe my knowledge in the sport and passion I have for the sport gives me an advantage above others to be able to teach my girls everything I know.”

Sanders will call upon Julie Massey as an assistant coach in 2014. Massey has previously coached the sport at the middle school level in Demopolis and Citronelle.

In addition to a new coaching staff, the volleyball program in Demopolis underwent a restructuring of sorts. The middle school program is no more and DMS athletes have been mixed in with high school players to form a junior varsity squad.

In all, 26 girls will make up the Demopolis High School varsity and junior varsity teams.

“Having a junior varsity team opens up many opportunities the teams didn’t have before,” Sanders said. “We have a bigger spread of teams to play now that we have a JV team. Schools that wouldn’t play us before because we didn’t have two teams will play us now.”

Additionally, younger players will face a higher level of competition earlier in their playing careers by jumping to the junior varsity level. The move, however, is not without its challenges.

“My toughest challenge I think I will have will be working with so many girls and keeping them all on track. I will be coaching varsity and JV so I have 26 girls to work with,” Sanders said. “I really want all of my girls to become successful in every aspect, on and off the court. I wish I had more time to work with each one individually to help them advance in the areas they need most. All of the girls will be expected to maintain a 3.0 or higher, which can take a toll on practice time if girls are in tutoring but in my opinion school comes first.”

The 26 girls that will make up the program in 2014 were chosen from a group of more than six dozen who tried out for the squads.

“I had over 75 girls show up for tryouts. The girls that made the team, I believe, have potential to be successful on the court,” Sanders said. “I also think the group of girls chosen for the team have a sense of respect for others and will represent the team well.”

Demopolis has a full slate of games that will include traditional rivals such as Thomasville, Sweet Water, Linden and Greensboro as well as developing rivals such as Clarke County, Hale County and West Blocton in addition to area matches with Dallas County and Sumter Central.

Sanders has also outfitted the schedule with summer tournaments in Linden and Thomasville as well as a fall bracket in Selma.

“I scheduled all these dates so the girls will have every opportunity to show people who Demopolis is,” Sanders said. “I want the girls to prove themselves and to get our name out there. It will also provide playing time for the girls to get experience and get better.”

In addition to those three tournament, Demopolis is set to host its own tournament for the first time Sept. 13.

“It is going to be a very small, four-team tournament since we only have one court,” Sanders said. “I am hoping to purchase a new net for the middle school next year to expand the tournament to host more teams. Every year I will try to make the tournament bigger, but it all depends on the supplies we can provide.”

The Lady Tigers will get to work soon to prepare for the 2014 season, a campaign that will include – among other goals – improved conditioning.

“This season we are going to work a lot on weight lifting and conditioning to prepare the girls in competition against upper level teams,” Sanders said.

The Lady Tigers are set to open their regular season at home Aug. 28 with a varsity tri-match against Thomasville and Selma and a junior varsity contest with Thomasville.