They always say two is better than one.

The volleyball program received the opportunity from the county to add an additional junior varsity team this year. Not all schools took advantage of the chance.

“We made it a priority to comply,” Cynthia Joyner JV girls’ volleyball coach said.

The coaches sought to create two competitive JV teams rather than a JV team and a freshman team. During tryouts they evaluated each player’s skills in order to build the teams.

“We tried to make sure we put everyone in a position to be successful. We split the girls up by position and tried to make sure that we did not have one team with all passers and another with all hitters or setters,” Scott Love varsity girls’ volleyball coach said.

Although having two JV teams presented a logistical challenge, Love hoped it would reap a positive outcome.

“The added team benefits the school by putting forth the opportunity for more girls to improve their skills rather than sitting on the bench or not making a team at all,” Love said.

Two JV teams are scarce to find. Currently only Heritage, Rolesville, and Leesville have a second team. Because of that concerns have emerged.

“They have not had the opportunity to play a full schedule, due to other schools not having three teams,” Joyner said.

Games between schools with only one JV team are split as equally as possible by the coaches. One JV team plays the home match while the other team plays the away match.

This inaugural season has given Love ideas for improving the dual-team experience next year.

“Next year’s tryouts will be different in the fact that I will have had more time to prepare for having three teams, and we are graduating 10 seniors. We will probably flex our schedule a little more to make sure that everyone gets the time and attention they deserve,” Love said.

Some of the players agreed that, with two coaches for three teams, a lack of attention was a factor this season.

Freshman Abigail Gunter felt that one smaller team might have been better than two teams.

“I think the coaches would’ve been able to spend more time with us, one team. We would then be a better team,” Gunter said.

Sophomore Mary Helen Garrett commented on the difficulties of having two JV teams for the first time.

She noticed a, “lack of communication sometimes because there were so many of us.”

Both coaches said they struggle to keep the girls competitive yet understanding they are one team.  Coach Cynthia Joyner’s goal was to create an atmosphere where everyone supports one another.

Her efforts resonated with JV players freshmen Morgan and Jordan Snow.

“We work our best together and try not to start drama. We, as a team, have some disagreements, which are expected with so many of us. It’s hard sometimes to be one team when there are technically two JV teams,” both said.

Although the teams had their ups and downs, they did not let it affect their goals.

Joyner said, “We continue to get better every day. The improvement is evident every day.”

Leads

Ashley Stecker

1. This year the volleyball program has extended their family of athletes by adding a second JV volleyball team.

2. They always say two is better than one.

This year the volleyball program was granted the opportunity to add a second JV team.