University Heights Academy volleyball coach Faye Hendricks says her 2024 squad reminds her of how last year’s record-setting team was five years ago.
The 2023 Lady Blazers went 36-3 and won the District 8 and Region 2 championship for the first time. It lost a hard-fought match to McCracken County in the first round of the state tournament.
“That was an amazing team we had together as middle schoolers and a lot of them had to play varsity their freshman year and it took them a while to get where they were,” Hendricks said. “And now, we’re starting over and almost in the same situation.”
The bulk of this year’s team is underclassmen. Olivia Oakley is the lone returning starter and the senior is just coming back from a knee injury.
“She will be our go-to person as an outside hitter,” Hendricks said. “That’s what she is going to have to do for us. She would be an excellent libero at a bigger school but we don’t have those kind of numbers so we need her to do everything else.”
Juniors Megan Long and Kenady Quarles return from last year and will be playing on the right side. Hendricks said she is counting on strong net play from Long and also said she has one of the best serves on the team.
The sophomore class is the deepest class for the Lady Blazers. Audrey Lovell and Katherine Wood both will be counted on at the outside and libero positions, respectively. Sophomore Niyati Patel also will play in the middle.
“Our sophomores, they are limited in their experience,” Hendricks said. “Niyati and Audrey can play all the way around and Katherine is going to be our libero.”
Freshman Taylor Cantrell, who is the tallest Lady Blazer on the roster, is joined by eighth graders Gretchen Durham and Kiley Lambert at the middle hitter position.
“These three have played clubs so even though they’re younger, they have more experience,” Hendricks said.
Hendricks said she likes her team and thinks they will be a dangerous team by the end of the year.
“We’re scrappy and where we are now, is not where we will be in the end,” she said. “Last year’s team of winners only won seven games their freshman year and that’s where we may be. But our region is down and if we win 10 matches this year, it will be a successful year. What we are building, it will come.”