The 2016 Liberty Christian volleyball team looks to resemble its head coach.

The Eagles have just two upperclassmen on the roster, and Head Coach Sheree Ball is in her first year of coaching the sport.

“I play in a sand volleyball league, but not competitive volleyball,” she said Tuesday with a laugh. “I’m in training for that.”

When former Head Coach Bryan Spencer was unable to coach the team due to time constraints, Ball stepped up.

A parent of two Liberty Christian students, Ball had the most free time of any potential candidate, so she decided to accept the position.

Tuesday, she watched the first part of practice with a pen and paper, taking notes from assistants while preparing to run the program herself soon.

“I’m also taking a coaching clinic on Aug. 15,” she said. “I’m the only one who can be here full time, so they’re just going to train me. I’m nervous and excited.”

She has spent time over the last week talking with Spencer in a coaching crash course of sorts, and is optimistic going into the season.

“I’ve talked to Mr. Spencer a lot, and he had a similar start as me,” she said. “He was a teacher first and then started coaching and he loves it.”

The Eagles start their season with a trip to Crosspoint Christian Aug. 30 in a conference meeting, and the team will play Mississippi Valley Christian, as well.

“We have a young team this year,” Ball said. “We have no seniors and two juniors, but yesterday was their first practice and they looked good. We’re hopeful. We felt a lot more positive after yesterday’s practice.”

The Eagles’ home opener will be Sept. 6 against Westwood and Heritage.

Ball hopes to get a better idea of her team’s outlook in the following week.

“We haven’t seen a whole lot yet as far as skills because we’re really just working on conditioning right now,” she said. “But they want to do good again after finishing third in state last year. They’re hoping to beat that this year.”