Starting for the Jr. Saints have been Abby Mendoza, Blayklee Glass, Lexi Crane, Zoe Robertson, Gracie Bullock, and a mixture of Josie Pinner and Olivia Butler throughout the season. They all can play front and back row, as they are a very versatile group. “We have done a good job this year growing, we’ve fixed mistakes in practice and applied it into the next game,” Blayklee Glass said as she talked about the improvements this team has made as the year has went on. Mattie Rogers is another player this team uses quite a bit, as she has been serving the ball very well as of late and played a good back-row. Laikyn Burns, Lilly Lauterbach, Brooklyn Robertson, and Mandie Maclaughlin have also played a lot of minutes for the Jr. Lady Saints this season and they have all improved in a lot of different aspects of their game. When asked if they were ready for the state tournament this week both Mattie Rogers and Laikyn Burns quickly answered, “Very excited, we’re looking forward to playing in the state tournament.”
This team has a very competitive nature. They do an excellent job of playing the game with joy, as well as playing for one another. There is a lot of togetherness with this group and their record backs up their play this season as they have piled up 16 wins so far this season. They attack each game like it is their last and there is a lot of fight in this team. This team does not see challenges, they only see opportunities to get better, compete and win games. This is a group of “go-getters” and that mindset has paid off for this team. “Our bond has gotten stronger throughout the season and our growth as a team in noticeable,” Abby Mendoza said as she spoke on teams growth and the togetherness this team has created. Blayklee Glass and Abby Mendoza have shown off their elite skill-sets throughout the season, as both of them are very good players in every aspect of the game. Mendoza has been good around the net, but she has really emerged as an elite passer and setter. Glass has led the team at the net with kills, including a 9-kill game last week. Lexi Crane has thrown together some very impressive games as of late, including consecutive games with 4+ kills, which is a very big reason this group has taken an even bigger stride. “If we go out there and we give it our all on the court, we like our chances to win this week,” Lexi Crane said as she spoke on the team and their opportunity to win a State Championship.
Another question that has been answered for this team is the growth of Zoe Robertson as a player. Robertson has really emerged as a problem for the opposition, especially at the net, and she has a very bright future. Gracie Bullock has been a very good player this year for GMCS, as she moved in this summer, and has been a very important piece to this unit. “As a group our team has just improved, not only as a team but the skill-sets of all of our players have improved a lot since day 1,” Gracie Bullock said as she talked about the improvements of her and her teammates. Josie Pinner has been playing better as of late and her serves have been very good lately, as well as her passing. Olivia Butler has really done a great job this year of gaining confidence and her volleyball IQ has been increasing all season long, as she has been another big part of this teams’ success. Mattie Rogers has turned into a very good back-row player and her serves have improved greatly since the beginning of the year. Laikyn Burns, Brooklyn Robertson, Mandie Maclaughlin, and Lilly Lauterbach have all made strides this year and have increased their skill-sets’ throughout the year and have gained a lot of experience this year, as they all will return for the Jr. Lady Saints next season.
With GMCS entering the tourney as a 2-seed, Liberty will be sporting the 1-seed, with Shiloh and New Life having the 3&4 seeds, as those teams round out the top-4 seeds. Other teams such as Immanuel, CMA, Valley, Victory Family, and Life will round out the field in this tournament. The Jr. Lady Saints will look to get off to a hot start in this tournament and let the opposition know they are ready to defend their title. This team has been great all year and has improved week-by-week, and now there is only one thing left for them to do… repeat as STATE CHAMPS!!!
GMCS will start off the tournament with a game against Immanuel on Thursday morning.
