BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
SMITHS STATION — Glenwood School’s volleyball season came to an end Oct. 21 with a 3-0 loss to UMS-Wright Preparatory School (24-19) at the AHSAA Class Private AA South Regional tournament at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex.
The Lady Gators (15-25), the smallest school in Class Private AA, fell by set scores of 25-11, 25-14 and 25-13.
Glenwood head coach Kayla Strength said the season was both one of the most challenging and most rewarding she has been a part of, largely because of how her players handled a rash of injuries.
“They get along so well. They were so excited to play together,” Strength said. “When they said they were cheering for each other, they meant it, and they backed it up, and it was so awesome to see, especially because of all the injuries that we had. I’ve never had that many kids actually get injured in a season. There was one point where I think we had five people sitting on the bench who couldn’t play.”
Strength said the players who were sidelined never stopped supporting their teammates.
“Whoever was in their spot, or whoever’s on the court, they were cheering so loud for them, trying to give tips and wanting to see their teammates succeed, even if they couldn’t be on the court,” Strength said. “That was awesome to watch from a coaching standpoint. I think that made our team a lot closer as people, and it helped them understand that they were overcoming adversity. I don’t think they knew that’s what they were doing, but they did that all season.”
Strength said the Lady Gators also played what was probably the toughest schedule in school history, and she believes Glenwood’s record doesn’t tell the whole story.
“Anybody can look at your record and get whatever ideas they have about your team. I don’t think our record reflected our team at all,” Strength said. “All the things that they had to overcome mean a lot more than what the record was.”
Glenwood had faced UMS-Wright earlier in the season at a tournament, falling in two sets while missing several injured players. Strength said the Lady Gators hung with the Lady Bulldogs in the second set of that match and believed they could compete again in the rematch.
“Unfortunately, they just played so well,” Strength said. “We made some unfortunate errors, but when we finally got in our groove, they had so much skill — and we do too. Somebody’s got to be better than the other, and they did not let anything hit the floor. They were so strategic with everything they did. It can be anybody’s game on any day. It was not ours, and it was theirs.”
Strength’s favorite moment of the season came in a 2-0 win over Columbus High School of Columbus, Georgia, on Sept. 19 at the Border Wars tournament, shortly after Glenwood had lost to the same team.
“We knew that all the Georgia schools were going to be extremely tough, and we had just played them and lost,” Strength said. “Just watching them show up and not walk on the court feeling defeated — they finally put together a full, cohesive match, and they were able to just take control. That was really rewarding for me to watch.”
Strength said the team’s biggest area of growth was ball control.
“We had a lot of kids who are athletic, and maybe they’re great at another sport or they hadn’t quite honed in on their niche for volleyball,” Strength said. “In a short period of time, things just started clicking for different people, and they were able to do it with the ball. We call it bettering the ball. They were able to do that.”
The Lady Gators will lose five seniors: Malea West-Sanchez, Halle Palmore, Carsyn Barker, Rorie Dunbar and Kamryn Thompson.
