Hallmark, Red Bay volleyball building buy-in, mental toughness ahead of 2026 campaign

When Jade Hallmark took over the Red Bay High School varsity volleyball program in May, she knew exactly what she wanted to do this summer to get her team ready for the 2026 campaign.

Before becoming the head coach, Hallmark spent the 2025 season as the assistant coach of the Lady Tigers, playing a large role in the first year of a mission to revamp the volleyball program.

“When we took the program over even last year, we did a 180,” Hallmark told the Franklin Free Press. “We took everything that had been done in the past and erased it and started with something fresh.”

It was the first step in a process that will hopefully lead to sustained success for a program which began just six years ago.

But what every successful high school athletic program has to have first is belief and support. So far, Hallmark believes she’s gotten it.

“(The players) have adapted well,” she said. “I’ve got a plan, and they’re buying into it. I’ve asked their parents to buy in and they are. And as long as I’ve got my players and the parents buying into the goals we’re trying to reach with the girls then I think we’re going to do it.

“I’m definitely not easy and I push them to their fullest, so I think they’re still trying to get used to that, but so far they’re buying in,” Hallmark added.

This summer Hallmark prioritized a couple of areas of improvement: one was strength and jump training; the other was mental toughness.

“We’ve hit the weight room two to three days every week this summer, and we’ve dedicated a day in the week to do nothing but jump training to work on our verticals,” Hallmark said. “We’ve spent a lot of time on those things, and I’m definitely seeing the changes in our girls’ strength and ability to jump higher. That tells me that what we’re doing is working.”

Mentally, Hallmark said, the Lady Tigers had trouble rebounding from mistakes during games.

“Last year we really struggled with mental toughness,” she said. “If it ever got to a point where a match wasn’t going our way, we could never mentally recover from that. If we ever made a mistake we let that one mistake dictate how the entire game would go.”

To combat that problem this year, the first-year head coach, along with her assistants Ashley Blackburn and Gracie Weatherford (“I’m excited for their knowledge in helping grow the program,” Hallmark said of Blackburn and Weatherford), has implemented a sort of mental toughness boot camp. It’s a program they’re calling ‘The Crucible,’ an entire week dedicated to helping the Lady Tigers improve their mental mettle.

“We plan to make it a yearly tradition the week before official volleyball practices start, but it’s nothing but mental tests for five days. It’s been a very, very hard challenge, but the girls have showed up and done it and I think I can see a difference in them,” Hallmark said. “I’m seeing less and less frustration when things don’t go their way, and I’m no longer seeing them get frustrated with themselves or their teammates. That’s what the week is all about. The plus is we get a little more practice but really it’s not about practice, it’s all about becoming mentally sound.

“The players told me that we should do The Crucible every year because they can tell a difference, too,” she added.

On the personnel side, key players returning for the Lady Tigers include senior Addyson Blackburn and sophomore Kamryn Kuykendall. 

Last season, Blackburn, out of team necessity, moved from her natural position as a setter to outside hitter. Blackburn did well in the role, recording 145 kills and earning a spot on the FFP All-Franklin County Second Team.

“The team needed her as an outside hitter last year, and she did phenomenal. She executed well, and she never complained even though swinging was not her job. She just did it and did very well with it,” Hallmark said.

But this year Blackburn is back to playing setter where her coach believes she’ll make a big impact.

“The girl can set,” Hallmark said. “She’s very dominate at the net, she knows how to read her hitters and she has great communication skills.

“I expect her to have a fantastic year setting, and I expect her stats to be great,” she added.

Just as important as her volleyball ability, Blackburn has shown good leadership, as well.

“She’s definitely our player that keeps the team going,” Hallmark said. “She lifts everybody up; it’s never about herself. She’s always making sure the team is where they need to be.”

Kuykendall, an outside hitter, was Red Bay’s most effective offensive weapon last season with 248 kills and 72 aces. Heading into this new campaign Kuykendall’s primed to be even more dangerous, especially, Hallmark said, if she can reach her full potential.

“She’s very good, but I think she’s holding back a little bit,” Hallmark said of Kuykendall. “I think if I can get her to give me exceptional, 100 percent effort then she’s going to be very dominate.”

Another player expected to play a large role for the Lady Tigers this season is a young freshman, McKenna McKelroy, that Hallmark moved up from junior varsity in anticipation of starting as an outside hitter.

“She’s a dominate swinger. I expect her to do big things. She’s very good and she’s got a calm head on her shoulders. She’s got great energy, great hustle,” Hallmark said.

Other notable players Hallmark mentioned were senior Aryana Neighbors and junior Mason Graham. 

Neighbors unfortunately suffered a wrist injury and will miss the first few weeks of the season, but Hallmark expects her to excel at libero when she recovers. Graham, who mostly played JV last season but made cameo varsity appearances at the end of the season, will be a feature on the right side for the Lady Tigers.

“Those are just some of the players who if they have a big year then we’re going to be very successful,” Hallmark said.

“Overall, I have a very good, headstrong team and they play well together,” she added.

Looking at Red Bay’s schedule, the Lady Tigers will face a new slate of area opponents after dropping from Class 2A to 1A. Following the AHSAA’s reclassification and realignment process earlier this year, RBHS will slot into 1A Area 14 with Belgreen, Cherokee and Waterloo.

The Lady Tigers faced each of those squads last season and are thus familiar with them. But the one Hallmark believes will potentially give her team the most trouble is BHS.

“I’m excited about the 1A area, and I’m excited about where we can go,” she said.

“I think our biggest matchup is going to be Belgreen. We played all three of those teams last year and they were all good matches, but Belgreen is more on the competitive side and they play more of our style,” she added. “Belgreen definitely matches us more, and I think they’re the team we’re really going to have to focus on in the area.”

But focus on Belgreen—or any opponent for that matter—will only begin when that opponent is the next one, Hallmark said. By taking the season “one game at a time,” the Lady Tigers believe they can achieve their goals for this season.

“Last year we got ahead of ourselves, thinking about games that were a couple of weeks away and getting carried away. This year our goal is to take it one game at a time, one point at a time and execute from there,” Hallmark said. “The girls’ first goal is to win the Franklin County Tournament, and their second goal is to win the area so we can host (a sub-region game), but they said they’re not setting any more goals until they reach those two first. Then they can go to bigger goals from there.

“As long as we do what we can do and take it one game at a time then those bigger goals will take care of themselves,” she added.

Red Bay’s road to reaching those set goals starts on Thursday, August 20 with a home match against Tharptown.