New Albany Volleyball

Photo courtesy of Lisa Browning Photography 2022 New Albany Lady Bulldogs Volleyball: Front row left -Laken Hopkins, Carine Delfin, Kali Jo Mercer. Middle row left - Amberianna Shorter, Emma Patterson, Amiya Terry, Amada Gamez, Masey Adams, Camryn Rainwater, Alyssa Newsom, Julianne Littlejohn, Maddie Smith, Elizabeth Gipson. Back row left - Marley Jackson, Gabby Shackelford, Summer Gaskin, Fernanda Vega, Danielle Dykes, Addi Vetovitz, Lilly Shannon, Teelie Tyer, Lucy King, Claire Long, Lizzie Moore, Lauren Hobson, Avery Hall.

lady BulldogS loaded witH eXperience For 2022

Coach Ashley Connolly has a solid veteran team returning for the 2022 campaign as the Lady Bulldogs are loaded with a huge senior class and a fair sized junior one. The Lady Bulldogs lost a close one in the second round to a tough Caledonia club by a 3-2 decision.

The Lady Bulldogs hope to get all the way back to the state championships with this team of experienced athletes like they did four years ago in Connolly’s first year.

“We are a veteran team with 11 seniors and 5 juniors with 6 returning starters,” Connolly said. “Our 2021 record was 20-11 and made it to the 2nd round of playoffs.

“Overall I feel like we are a solid team with a lot of leadership and experience.”

The wealth of seniors on the team gives the Lady Bulldogs the necessary leadership to have a highly successful season and Connolly pointed out some of the players that have stepped up to assume those roles.

“We have a few different team leaders in different roles, Masey Adams and Camryn Rainwater lead on the court,” Connolly said. “They both have the experience and the drive to help motivate and push the other players to perform well.

“Off the court Julianne Littlejohn is more of the ‘Mom’ of the team. She keeps us/me organized and ready for practice and games.”

Several girls figure into the equation as Connolly works on her rotations and she mentioned some younger players that figure to be in the mix as well as one senior.

“We have a few players that I feel will be key to our offense. Lucy King is back in the middle for us this year and we have two freshmen who have been working hard all summer and will be in contention for starting positions, Teelie Tyer (outside hitter) and Lilly Shannon (middle blocker and right-side hitter). Our defense will be led by senior libero, Bre Shorter.”

Key non-division games will be Tupelo, Caledonia, Pontotoc and Saltillo plus New albany will be going over to play in a tournament in Florence, AL to help prepare them for division games.

“For us to be successful we need to play our game and stick to our team goals we set at the beginning of summer,” Connolly said.