News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
With a 3-1 win over Clarkrange in the season opener, the Monterey High Volleyball Team snapped a losing streak that dated back to 2022.
First year head coach Todd Daugherty said the Wildcats exceeded his expectations in their first game. Senior outside hitter Kendyl Franz said that the work the team did in the summer with Coach Daugherty had the team prepared for the season opener.
“I was actually pretty confident,” Franz said. “I think that with how we did the summer and everything, I was really confident in this game that we were going to win.”
Daugherty said he did not have much film from Clarkrange to scout, so the team went into the game focused on playing their style of volleyball. And the Wildcats came out the gates hitting the ball hard and looking for kills. Monterey went 37/105 on kill attempts for a hitting average of 21 percent.
“It’s a testament to our offense being ready,” Daugherty said. “And our offense isn’t ready unless we get a good first touch from our defense. So, our rally play was really solid. Our serving and serve receive need to improve, but overall I think our expectations were exceeded as a result of this game.”
Franz was named player of the game after she accounted for 14 of Monterey’s 37 kills.
In his first year at Monterey, Daugherty wasn’t a part of last season’s winning drought, but said he put pressure on himself to make sure his players don’t go winless again.
“This game meant a lot to me because I knew that these girls were so ready to win a game,” Daugherty said. “I’ve grown to love each of them so much, so I wanted to do everything that I could to prepare them for this game.”
The Wildcats next game takes place Thursday at 2023 district champions Gordonsville. Daugherty said practice will focus on serving and effort in preparation for the Tigers.
“Gordonsville won the district last year, but that means nothing to us this year,” Daugherty said. “We do have tremendous respect for that program, they have a lot of good things going for them. They have good players and good leadership there too with their coaching staff. However that means nothing to us in terms of our preparation for this game.”
