By By BRIAN HAINES
Contributing Writer
WILLIAMSTON – With less then a week to go before the prep volleyball season begins, two area teams got a chance to workout the kinks on the court as Williamston High School hosted a four-team scrimmage on Thursday. The exhibition featured Southside, Perquimans, North Pitt and, of course, the hosting Tigers.
Williamston coach Herbie Rogers was pleased with his team’s performance, but said that his crew needs to execute better on a regular basis.
“We just need a little bit more consistency,” Rogers said. “Every time you step on the court you want to get a little bit better. I thought there were some times today that we really played well, but there are still a lot of things we have to work on.”
Rogers, last year’s WDN volleyball coach of the year, said that his team’s work over the summer has allowed him to faster evaluate his players and set the team’s rotation.
“We spent a lot of time in the summer working together, and we came together and did a week camp,” Rogers said. “We went down to Southside and scrimmaged them early, so that gave me another chance to workout the kinks.”
During Thursday’s scrimmage, Rogers said that he liked the collective play of the Tigers.
“I thought overall, we didn’t have one person that stood out, but everybody played okay,” Rogers said. “In the end it comes down to how six people play together.”
While Williamston has its rotation figured out, Southside coach Elizabeth Pruden was using Thursday’s scrimmage to help decipher her’s.
“We’re trying to figure out which rotation is working the best,” Pruden said. “I’ve got about two or three that I’m working with right now; I’m just trying to see how comfortable they are in them.”
Pruden said she liked what she saw from her team on Thursday. However, as a result of not having Southside’s rotation formulated, her team was struggling with substitutions.
“We don’t do well with change,” Pruden said. “It takes us a couple of minutes to get used to where we are at, instead of just taking off.
“Other than that, we did really good on our hitting and blocking. Our blocking has really picked up from last year. Our passing needs work, and our setting was okay.”
The Seahawks, last season’s Atlantic Conference tournament champions, played well as a unit, and Pruden said she had few players that elevated their play.
“Atyana (Starkie) and Nicky (Renikia Hodges), both our middle hitters, did really well hitting and blocking,” Pruden said. “Lindsay (Mitchell) has done really well with her digging and hustled. Danyelle (Jedlicka) also gave us a lot of hustle tonight. My two setters, Kristen (Ayers) and Caitlin (Bogart), did very well.”
The Seahawks will begin their season on Monday when it battles Washington, while Williamston will play its first official game on Tuesday against Bear Grass.