Martin: Blue Devil Volleyball Grew In 24

Jackson County Head Volleyball Coach Lucas Martin said while it is hard to say farewell to the seniors, he is encouraged for the future.

The Blue Devils finished the year with a record of 11-17 but finished 7-6 inside the district. Martin said this season was a step in the right direction for volleyball at Jackson County High.

“I was happy with the girls on the team,” Martin said. “I mean, there were some things that went a little slower than we wanted, but for the most part we came together. They learned to play the defenses and offenses. Other than a few bobbles here or there, we played pretty well.”

The Blue Devils came into this season with some confidence despite graduating seven seniors in the off-season. Martin said while this was far from a “rebuild” year, there was tremendous growth from his players.

“Most of our offense was coming from sophomores,” Martin said. “So, we’ll lose our senior leadership and experience and rock solid part of the game, but all those sophomore hitters will continue to grow.”

This year the team will lose seniors Macee Conner, Isabelle Beaty and Rachael Lynn. He noted that when he took over as head coach for the 2023 season, he moved Beaty and Lynn to brand new positions that they had never played before.

He said both of them took it in stride and become solid players at their new spot. Martin said despite the season ending on a sour note, this year has been an overwhelming positive moving forward.

“It was a good growth year,” Martin said. “I mean, the fact that the season before we were finding ways to lose almost all the time and this year there were a few matches that yeah they were close, but we weren’t giving them away. And then there were other times where we were getting over that hump and winning a set or two or even the matches.”