Packers practicing volleyball

MOULTRIE – Do they know how to spike? Do they know how to dig? Do they even know what a libero is?

The answer is yes to all of the above as far as the players who will make up the first season of Colquitt County High School varsity volleyball are concerned. Head coach Lindsey Whitehead put together a roster of 15 to get things started, and they are concluding a series of summer workouts and scrimmages and preparing to transition to official practice on Aug. 1. The first match, at Mitchell County High, is Aug. 21, though Whitehead said she is looking for at least one more scrimmage the week before.

As the team gathered at C.A. Gray’s gym Wednesday, Whitehead said there are those who’ve played volleyball before and they were able to hang “neck-and-neck” with their scrimmage opponents Thomas County-Central and Mitchell.

“We’re working well as a team,” the coach said. “They’re always critiquing each other. I watch and see who needs more help, then I will work with them one-on-one.”

So it wasn’t a case of girls showing up to play a new sport and not knowing what to do with the ball. When Whitehead held tryouts before the previous school year ended, she went over everything about volleyball and found that a lot of the girls knew the basics of the game. Plus, she said most of these Packers play other sports and are already established as athletes.

“I have three soccer players, two swimmers, two basketball players,” said Whitehead. “Once you learn the basics, you can build on that. Of course, as always, practice makes perfect.”

The other important step for building a volleyball team – as it is with any other team sport – is to fill in the various roles. You have your hitters, both outside and in the middle, who are expected to control the net area and score the points, or kills. Sometimes the harder they can hit – or spike – the better.

The setter’s role is as valuable to volleyball as the point guard is to basketball. She gets up to the net, hits the ball up with the palms of both hands in front of her, behind her or across the net to the hitter.

In the backline are defensive specialists who get to the opponent’s serves or hits and tries to “dig” them away from the floor. The objective is to get the ball to the setter. A libero is a special designation, one who wears a different type of uniform and can substitute in and out at any time during a set. Her biggest role is passing and cannot be set for a kill, though she can hit the ball over from the backcourt.

“Positions develop over time,” said Whitehead. “We do have two setters and a front row attack. It’s definitely a learning curve.”

Colquitt County’s first volleyball schedule isn’t a full one, but it will include “playdates” with the other schools in Area 1-7A, which is the same as 1-7A in region sports. The Packers will play against Tift County, Lowndes and Camden County in Tifton Aug. 26 and in Kingsland Sept. 23. Camden County is host for the area championship in October.