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Volleyball scrimmages set Saturday

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By Donnie A. Lucas

Workouts for the 2019 volleyball start Thursday (today), with only a couple of days of practice slated before the local squads hit the court for competition.

New head coach M.J. Reneau is expecting over 35 girls to play this season, providing the numbers to support three teams including a varsity and two JV groups.

“I think we will have 36 girls at this points, so that is plenty for three teams,” the coach said. “That will give the girls more playing opportunities.”

The Lady Lions only have two days to prepare for scrimmages in Breckenridge on Saturday against the Lady Buckaroos and Mineral Wells.

The JVI and JVII teams will start the action at 10:00 a.m., followed by the varsity at 11:00 a.m.

Albany will officially open the season on the road against Jim Ned on Tuesday, Aug. 6. Game times are set to start at 3:00 p.m. with the JVII, followed by a JVI game at 4:00 p.m. The varsity will take the court at 5:00 p.m.

Most of the girls who are playing also participated in a team camp held earlier this week. 

“We had a great turnout for camp,” said Reneau. “The girls were able to get a lot of touches and start meshing as a team before two-a-days start.”

The three-day camp was conducted by Amelia Reeves, who now works for ESC 14 but is a former high school coach.

“The girls worked hard during the camp,” said Reneau.

Local coaches were not allowed to participate in the camp activities due to UIL rules. 

Reneau said most of the players turned in all the necessary paperwork required to participate in two-a-days while attending the camp, even though it was not due until the first day of two-a-days. Anyone still wanting to play can get the necessary forms that must be signed by parents from Reneau.

“There were 32 of the 36 girls we are expecting for two-a-days at the camp, which was great,” she said. “The coaching staff and girls are very excited about the upcoming season.”

The coach said that the varsity will still be a young but experienced group, returning all of last season’s starters. There were no seniors on last year’s varsity team and only two juniors who moved up as seniors this season. Several girls who were freshmen or sophomores gained varsity experience last year.

“We are really excited about the season,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing them put everything together that they have learned on Saturday in Breckenridge.”

The Lady Lions will host the annual Albany Summer Slam Tournament on Aug. 8-10, with 12 varsity teams signed up and 17 JV or freshmen teams.

The Lady Lions will again compete in District 6-2A this season, which includes Strawn, Newcastle, Hawley, Moran, Woodson, and Ranger.

The first district game is slated for Sept. 14 in Albany against Strawn.