With several key contributors set to return from last year’s eight-win team, the Wright City Lady Wildcats are looking to win a conference title.
Last season, the Lady Wildcats finished 8-14, including 3-2 in conference matches. They return several key contributors from last year’s team. Senior Jasmin Simpson led Wright City in aces, kills and blocks. Fellow senior Cassie Reash finished in the top-three among all Wright City players in aces, kills and serve reception percentage. Junior Paige Freiner led the Lady Wildcats with a serve efficiency rate over 75%. She finished second in aces and kills and third in serve reception percentage. Cayle Redmon, also a junior, led Wright City with a serve reception percentage over 85%.
“It’s a veteran team for the varsity,” Wright City volleyball coach Christine Goldsmith said. “We have five seniors and then two juniors and a sophomore. So they kind of know the drill and I think we’re going to be really strong this year.”
Goldsmith and the Lady Wildcats have their sights set on winning the conference title. The Lady Wildcats lost a pair of games to defending champion Montgomery County last season. They lost one match in three sets and one game in four sets.
“This year, I really hope we win the conference,” Goldsmith said. “We’ve lost to Montgomery County for two years. And I think this year we have a chance to beat them. So I’m excited about that.”
Wright City put in work over the summer to prepare for the season. They held open gyms twice a week over the summer. They also participated in a summer volleyball camp. Goldsmith believes the camp helped the Lady Wildcats solidify their rotation and know what to expect from the better teams they will square off against over the course of the season.
“Two of our captains this year were at the camp,” Goldsmith said. “So I think that gave them a lot of knowledge in how to work with the team and how to be in charge on the court and make those decisions quicker.”
The Lady Wildcats benefit from bringing back an experienced group this season. The group already knew the system since the start of practice and the team was able to focus on honing their skills. Although Goldsmith admitted she will need to see the team in game action before knowing how the team will perform in games, she has high hopes for the team this season.
“I think we have a really strong team and they have a lot of passion for the sport and a lot of ownership in it,” Goldsmith said. “So we’re really ready for the season.”