Volleyball scrimmages set Aug. 8

By Donnie A. Lucas

Workouts for the 2020 volleyball season start Monday, with scrimmages set for Saturday, Aug. 8 in Breckenridge.

Details for the season were in limbo much of the summer before the University Interscholastic League announced last week that Class 1A through 4A schools could start workouts as originally planned on Aug. 3. The two larger 5A and 6A divisions will be delayed until September.

Head coach M.J. Reneau is expecting around 38 girls to play this season, which will provide enough players for three teams.

“We should have plenty of girls to support three teams,” she said. “There will be varsity, JV, and freshman teams, which gives all the girls more playing time.”

Two-a-day workouts start Monday at 7:00 a.m., continuing until 9:00 a.m. A second practice is scheduled each day from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. throughout the first week.

Practices the week of Aug. 10 will switch to 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. each day during teacher in-service training.

Albany teams will see their first action on the courts on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Breckenridge with a three-way scrimmage against the Lady Bucks and Wichita Falls Hirschi. Games will start at 11:00 a.m.

Albany will host Breckenridge on Tuesday, Aug. 11 starting at 4:30 p.m. for a set of games that will include all three teams.

The first regular road game is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 14 in Bangs.

The UIL cancelled all tournaments for the season as part of an effort to limit contact between numerous teams due to the coronavirus. This includes Albany’s traditional Summer Slam Tournament that had been scheduled for Aug. 13-15.

“We are being allowed to play three matches each of the first two weeks instead of tournaments,” Reneau said. “I have lined up three games for the week of Aug. 10, but so far I have only found two for the next week.”

Reneau said that she sent out a letter earlier in the month to all prospective players that included important dates and a number of consent forms that must be signed by a parent.

Anyone not receiving a packet in the mail who wants to participate should contact Reneau so the paperwork can be completed prior to showing up for the first day of workouts.

All players will also need to print out the medical history portion of the physical exam form and answer the first six questions. Anyone answering “yes” to any of the first six questions is required to have a new physical exam conducted before participating in a workout.

The form is available on the school’s website and on the Athletic Booster Club’s Facebook page.

Anyone who did not participate in athletics last year who does not have a exam already on file at the school must have one conducted before workouts start.

The school was unable to offer free physicals at the end of the school year as usual because classes were stopped in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.