After a delay to their preseason, Gilmer High is in full gear preparing for the upcoming volleyball campaign.
Gilmer typically hits the court following the GHSA’s mandated dead week at the start of July. Those plans came to fruition a week later as the finishing touches were being put on the GHS gym’s resurfaced court.
Tryouts were held ahead of the summer and the roster sits at 20 players. GHS will field varsity and junior varsity squads but will not have a C-team this season. Head coach Donna Parks plans to have a nine-player varsity roster.
“For this summer, I wanted to see how the girls worked together,” Parks said. “Going into that second week, I felt like the girls were pretty good on their skills, they just needed to work on them. Seeing who can work together and getting rotations down was a big thing.
“The younger ones have a harder time getting the rotations of where they can stand and be and what there job is. In middle school, they learn the skills, and then they get up here and can learn the rotations.”
Practice days have been spent on the court along with time dedicated to agility and footwork. Parks and staff have been assessing talent and arranging players in the correct positions.
“Because we’re so short on time, we’re trying to see the skills the girls can do,” Parks said. “We’ve put them through a lot of different skill drills trying to narrow it down. Back then that was our first week and I still didn’t exactly know who I wanted on varsity and JV.”
GHS made its way to Gainesville High in its first week on the court and both varsity and JV played four matches and earned wins. Last week was the team’s annual All-American camp. Outside coaches came in and worked with the team over a three-day span. Each day included six hours of drills and instruction, and Parks was able to tailor activities to meet the team’s needs.
“At the All-American camp, we were really able to see what we were working with while we were teaching and honing the skills,” Parks said. “When those coaches came in, we were able to sit back and watch the girls. That helps a lot, and that’s when we decided our JV and varsity.”
Nineteen Clear Creek Middle School players also attended the camp for two days and took the court following Gilmer High’s session with its new coach Kalin Zagarola.
GHS will have two more weeks to prepare for its season opener and Parks is pleased with what they have accomplished so far.
“Even in the short amount of time we’ve had, I think we got a lot done. We took advantage by doing things we really needed to work on. We didn’t play a lot of games, which is good and bad in a way because they love playing games,” Parks said.
“Over these next two weeks, we’ll shore up who is playing where. So many of them can do various things in terms of hitting and passing. It’s a good problem to have, and we want to figure out who plays the best beside each other and can do the best during a game.”
GHS will kick off its season Aug. 15 on the road at Murphy (N.C.) High School.