Lady Cubs open season

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Lady Cubs volleyball teams opened their season Monday, Aug. 22 by splitting a pair of matches at Abilene Christian.

Junior high teams are not allowed to practice until the start of school under UIL rules. With Albany ISD beginning the new school year on Wednesday, Aug. 17, the teams had two practice sessions before playing.

The seventh grade Lady Cubs bounced back from a first-set loss to win their match 18-25, 25-23, 15-12.

“The girls were very timid and nervous during the first set, so they made a lot of mistakes,” coach Tate Thompson said. “Once they got comfortable, they started playing lots better.

The seventh grade team has 11 players this season.

The eighth grade team, coached by Elizabeth Martin, lost its match in two sets 15-25, 23-25.

The Lady Cubs have 10 players competing in eighth grade.

Martin said her team showed good retention from last year in its opening match.

“The girls caught on easily and were getting in the groove pretty quickly,” Martin said. “There are some things we need to work out as far as rotations, but they did a good job.”