Youth dominates Nevada volleyball roster

By Eric Wade

Daily Mail Sports Editor

"I've seen a lot of promising things this summer."

Promising might be an understatement for what Nevada Lady Tigers head volleyball coach Ashley Thoreson has seen from her squad this preseason. That has turned out to be both good and bad as it has led to a significant measure of confidence, but at the same time, has created a fair amount of issues for Thoreson and her coaching staff.

"There's definitely ups and downs to it," Thoreson said.

The ups are the simple fact that despite being young, the Lady Tigers have a lot of experience from which to draw and they have also been playing with a substantial measure of chemistry, leading to far fewer errors and a much smaller need to focus on fundamentals. The fact that the Lady Tigers have shown so much chemistry and overall talent has created issues, however, in that Thoreson has struggled mightily to figure out where each player will fit in on the roster.

"It's nice to have because that means they're never content, they always have to push themselves," Thoreson said of her lack of a set roster. "At the same time, I go home every night and write a different lineup and you know, we lose sleep. It's difficult in the coaching position to find who's going to fit best where, when you have so many options."

Unlike some other high school sports teams around the area, the Lady Tigers didn't just get their preseason workouts or preparations started recently. Thoreson said her squad has been hard at work since early in the summer and all the way through the month of July, leading up to the start of official team-sanctioned activities, which came two weeks ago.

Thoreson said she and her players hosted their annual team camp, as well as playing in Carthage, Carl Junction and a number of other places, all in the month of July.

"We've been in the gym quite a bit," she said. "We started early this summer and we had a really busy July."

Thoreson was able to get in a couple of two-a-day practices last week and has now officially had two full weeks of practices with her full roster. That, on top of the other action the Lady Tigers have seen throughout the summer has had a number of positive effects, but has also taken its toll.

"I have two pretty big injuries and then, I have, you know, a couple of minor ones," Thoreson said. "It seems like something else happens every day."

Those injuries have been nothing Thoreson didn't expect to see and haven't slowed the Lady Tigers down much at all, however. Despite being in some pain, nearly everyone on the roster continues to step up and work, creating the most uncertainty Thoreson has ever had as a coach about where each player will ultimately land on the roster.

With 13 freshmen and six sophomores on the roster to go with just three seniors, the Lady Tigers are going to bring a very young team onto the court this year. That hasn't fazed Thoreson, however, as her hopes and expectations remain high.

"It will be interesting because some of those younger girls are going to have pretty big roles," Thoreson said. "But we're figuring it out now."

Of those 13 freshmen, two have made the varsity roster. On top of freshmen Chloe Bartlett and Ellie Smith, sophomore Lexie Overton will add another face to the varsity roster from the two youngest classes in the high school.

Despite having so many young players, however, Thoreson has a wealth of experience at her disposal and really hasn't had to focus much on the fundamentals of the game, but rather, fine-tuning the little things.

"All across the board we have some pretty strong athletes, so I think all of our teams are going to be pretty strong," she said. "A lot of them played offseason ball, club volleyball and I think that's really made a huge difference from, you know, where we left off last year."

On top of the talent her younger players already possess, they will have some strong leadership to lean on from seniors Bree Reppert, Alisha Conner and Brooklyn Ryan. All three of those players will be back on the varsity roster this year and have already taken their opportunity to step up into leadership roles.

"We have three seniors who, so far, have really done a really good job of being very vocal and being a leader on and off the court," Thoreson said. "So, I think that will be nice to have the leadership out of the seniors this year.

"They all play different positions, which is always nice. You know, we'll always have one of them that can kind of step up in different roles."

The Lady Tigers could have had a fourth senior on the roster this year, but Megan Mason elected not to rejoin the team for her senior season. Everyone else from last year's squad, including varsity starters Rilie Good and Morgan McNeley, came back this year, however.

Thanks to the wealth of experience and talent the Lady Tigers have this year, Thoreson said she had no doubts as to how they would perform once the season begins.

"We're going to be a very competitive team," she said. "You know, I'm not worried about having a successful record or anything like that. I focus, always, on postseason play and how to beat the best of the best."

Thoreson went on to say she thinks she and her squad might already know how to beat the best of the best since they have already had the opportunity to see the majority of the teams they will face this season.

"With having such a busy summer, we've seen a lot of the schools that we're going to see through our regular season and postseason play," she said. "So, we kind of know what we need to work on to be the best and where we stand."

Thanks to that familiarity with the competition, Thoreson has high expectations heading into the season. Not only does she want to see her squad finish above the .500 mark, but she also has her sights set on winning her first district championship.

"We already know who our district is, you know, we know we're at home for districts," Thoreson said. "I, personally, as a coach, would love to win districts. We haven't been able to do that here the past two seasons since I've been here and that's kind of why I'm pushing them pretty hard."

The Lady Tigers won't have to wait long to figure out if all of that pushing will pay off or not. Thoreson's squad is scheduled to get into regular-season action for the first time at 5 p.m., Tuesday, hosting Carthage in a freshman/JV/varsity tripleheader, at Wynn Gymnasium.

"The girls are ready to start," Thoreson said. "I could use a few more weeks."