Fresh off the back of another trip to the state tournament, a new era is set to begin for McCracken County volleyball this fall, as the 13-time and defending First Region champions are heading into their first season under new head coach Izzy Myers.
“It’s amazing to be a part of this program, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to do this and work with these girls,” said Myers. “The legacy that was built before me with Tim Whitis and Chancie Coleman, two great coaches, is incredible, and it’s an honor for me to step in to carry that on…We’re having our first varsity scrimmages soon, the girls are pumped up, they’re ready to get the season started, and I’m right there with them.”
For Myers, a recent Transylvania University graduate and outside hitter for the Pioneers volleyball team, this year won’t just be her first season in a new program, but also her first in a head coaching position. The former Ballard Memorial Lady Bomber is looking forward to tackling her new opportunity head-on, and is aiming to utilize her recent playing experience to strengthen the chemistry within her new squad.
“I think one of the biggest things for me as a new coach is connecting with them as not just their coach, but someone they can look up to, having just played in college like a lot of them want to soon,” said Myers, on adapting to her new role. “I tell them all the time, it’d be hard to find anyone more obsessed with volleyball than I am…There’s a lot that I can bring with me from playing in college, things I learned at that level that I want to pass along to them, because they’ll eventually want to play in college themselves.”
When it comes to how the Lady Mustangs will look once the season starts, things are still a work in progress, as Myers is maximizing her opportunities across the preseason to fine-tune lineups and tactics.
“There’s a lot of great athletes here, and plenty of moving parts that could fit anywhere in this team, so right now we’re still changing things around and finding what works best for us before the regular season,” Myers continued. “My style of coaching is very direct, but I still want the girls to be expressive of who they are on the court, so getting to watch them mesh together and grow as both a team and as individuals has been great... We’re still seeing a lot of them push themselves and develop even further through this preseason.”
While the lineup may not be set in stone, one certainty about the current Lady Mustangs squad is the wealth of experience they’ve brought back in their senior class. The returning class boasts five incoming seniors that played upwards of 100 sets across their junior campaign, including Lily Hamilton, who led the team with 278 kills to earn First Region Player of the Year honors.
“We have a very strong senior group, they’ve all shown great leadership on their own, and that’s extremely helpful to the younger girls coming into the program. They’ll have someone to push them and help them grow,” Myers said, on the Lady Mustangs’ senior core. “We want to build a culture of appreciation, and they’re a big part of that. It’s about being appreciative of one another and each other’s talents, because all of these girls are extremely talented athletes. I think that appreciation is going to be very helpful in getting everyone where they need to be.”
As for the Lady Mustangs’ season aspirations, Myers has kept an emphasis on winning and upholding the program’s decorated pedigree, but also extends their focus to development both on and off the court.
“I put just as much emphasis on being a great person as much as I push them to be a great athlete, and the goal right now is to have them reach their full potential [in both].” Myers concluded “That’s not at all to say that our focus isn’t on winning, because it is. I love winning, and they do too, but we also know that those two things can come together.”
The Lady Mustangs will officially open their regular season on the 24th of August, heading out on the road to face Community Christian in a Second District matchup.