Lady Flyers Back to Work - Alumni Game on Saturday
The Sandhills Community College volleyball team takes a break from a rigorous preseason workout schedule for its annual alumni game on Saturday at 11 am at The Hangar.
Five returnees led by 2021 NJCAA All-American middle hitter Keke Lawrence and All-Region 10 defensive specialist L'Asia Jackson, and eight freshmen, will play a contingent of a dozen former Lady Flyers.
The alums committed to play in the game include Michelle Brown (2011), Marymegan Farley Santiago (2013), Courtney Grant (2015), Kaylee Lopez-Rosario (2016), Rachael Mashburn, Kaitlyn Lisenby, Tee' Asia Lilly, Abby Wallace and Jordan Ward (2018), and Alexus McCrimmon, Carley Modlin and Khaile Jones (2019).
Beginning her 14th season, Head Coach Alicia Riggan (252-109) has coached all of them. She calls the game that is always competitive her favorite time of the year.
"Anytime they take time out of their schedules to come back and want to be a part of something that was so important to them in their two years here, just means the world to me," she said before a practice on Tuesday.
"It's like coming out of retirement. A number of them have been coming to open gyms."
Among the former Lady Flyers, Wallace, an NJCAA All-American in 2018, was recently named the volleyball coach at nearby West Pine Middle School. Modlin, a 2020 All-American, played at Division I UNC-Asheville last season.
Mashburn is a staff member at Sandhills in the position of Sandhills Promise and High School Recruiter.
For the current Flyers, the first two weeks of two-a-days have included work on skills, footwork, conditioning and weight training. They open regular season play at Lenoir CC on August 18.
"These girls are working really hard and the energy has been awesome," Riggan says. "I don't think I've had a group of sophomores that have shown this type of leadership. They get here at 7 am and they're waiting for me to unlock the doors.
"The freshmen are looking to the sophomores for leadership, but also challenging them in practice."
Last year's Region 10 regular season and conference tournament champions finished with a record of 20-7. They came within one win of qualifying for the national tournament at the district championships in Butler, PA.
"I just feel like this season is going to be a good one," sophomore middle hitter/rightside Mackenzie Swett says. "For a lot of the second-year players it's personal.
"We went so deep last year and we know with all the talent that the coach brought in this year we're capable of doing so much more."
The returnees also include libero, Abby Quick, and outside hitter, JaLasia Ray.
On a team with no returning setters, freshman Lannah Huneycutt and Alexis Hinson are the newcomers to the position. They will be tutored by assistant coaches Lindsay McManamon and Holly Mandeville who both played the position in college.
A Graystone Day School grad, Huneycutt has been impressed by how hard a college player has to work and appreciates the 1-on-1 coaching she has been receiving.
"It's a good kind of hard," she said. "The team really wants everybody to get better. I like the camaraderie. Everyone is here to win.
"It was a little rough at the start because we didn't know how each other plays, but I'd say it's coming together pretty well."
Hinson is a product of Fairmont High School. Other freshmen about to experience their first live action as college players include outside hitters Olivia Barlowe (Parkwood High School) and Madison Brower (Eastern Randolph), middle hitters Dajsha Fields (Fairmont) and Ny'Asia McKinnon (Overhills), defensive specialist Alyssa Maragelis (Wallace Rose Hill) and rightside Anna Ty Ivey (West Columbus).
Mandeville is new to the coaching staff. McManamon, Kristin Hylton and Jacob Marley are the returnees.
C. Bergmann
