Cavs Volleyball Keeping Cool During Hot Streak

The Cookeville Cavaliers volleyball team has shutout four straight opponents in route to a four game win streak.

The Cavs wins were all over district opponents, the team has not lost a district match since 2022. Head Coach Staci Weigand said she is satisfied with her team’s play so far this season, but she said their ultimate goal is not regular season wins.

“Whenever you sweep a match, it definitely gives you a confidence boost,” Weigand said. “But what we really try to do is to stay levelheaded. Not get too high in victory or too low in defeat. That was something we talked about at the start of the season.”

The Cavaliers are 10-2 on the season and a perfect 6-0 in district play. To Weigand’s dismay, the team has not been involved in any close matches this year, all of their matches have been shutouts or the losing team winning just one set. Weigand said in game adversity is what her team needs.

“I think we would benefit from that a lot,” Weigand said. “Because that’s usually how you see what a team really is. You know, you put someone under pressure, and what comes out is what they are. So, I would really, really like to see a close, hard fought match.”

A hard fought match is hard to come by when the Cavs have two of Tennessee’s top ten players in hitting efficiency. Middle hitters Kallie Clark and Marciel Robinson are the offensive leaders who Weigand said leads the team.

Weigand said the offense has a new wrinkle in its game in outside hitter Brecken Windle.

“We have an outside hitter who is dominant, she definitely carries a presence when she’s on that front row,” Weigand said. “She has power and pretty much makes amazing hits out of some pretty spectacular sets.”

While her team is rolling in 2024, Weigand said she is never satisfied and is always wanting to level her team up. She said basic ball control and first touch conversions are areas that need to be fixed, but blocking is the Cavs main issue.

“I think there’s always room for improvement in our blocking game, Weigand said. “Cookeville is not necessarily a tall team, so making precise adjustments with our blocking game is only going to elevate us in competition.”