Stone Volleyball Finding Rhythm In Rotation

After a tournament weekend in Knoxville that saw the Stone Memorial volleyball team go 1-4, head coach Tori Permenter said that their record does not indicate their success.

The Panthers lost many contributing seniors that were vital in last season’s 27 win campaign, but Permenter said she was pleased with her new roster’s off season. The team started 2-1 in 2024 before heading into last weekend’s tournament against more experienced programs from bigger schools outside the Upper Cumberland. And after dropping four of their five games, Permenter is not worried for the team’s future.

“For me the whole goal of this weekend was to play really high speed volleyball,” Permenter said. “To get the experience that you have to travel for, we played some really big schools. I loved how we played. I think you could tell the girls were a little tired for the week we had, I mean we played nine games”

This week the Panthers will play three games against Smith, C and crosstown rival Cumberland County. Permenter said her focuses this week in practice would include peer pressure drills to improve serving consistency, but also finalize and get in the groove of an unexpected rotation change.

“My starting setter went out two days before our first game ,” Permenter said. “So, we’re practicing a new rotation that we haven’t practiced all summer, so it’s kind of fixing that as well. Trying to get used to sets and my hitters and setters connecting a little bit more. Trying to also increase our offensive output, you know, I want our kill numbers to go up.”

Stepping into the starting setting role are two girls that will learn the position as the season goes along. Junior Sadie Howard and sophomore Arden Lafew are splitting time as Stone’s starting setter and so far Permenter said the pair are improving daily.

“Right now we’re getting it done,” Permenter said. “They’re doing exactly what I told them to do. So we had two district games last week, come out of district 2-0. That’s a very hard position to play, so I’m very proud of them and them overcoming that adversity as well.”

Permenter said she feels like her team has found its groove and now it is just about consistently playing their style of volleyball.