Scott pleased with Red Bay’s performance through first half of season

The Red Bay High School varsity volleyball team is heading into the back half of its regular season schedule with some important area matches still to play. The Lady Tigers, 1-0 in Class 2A Area 10 after an early season home win over Sulligent on August 29th, sit at 6-8 overall, but second-year Red Bay head coach Elizabeth Scott is pleased with the effort she’s seen from her team to this point.

“I have been pleased with how well the team has competed so far,” Scott said. “I am most proud of the effort my girls have given each game. There’s been some games where I knew some of my girls weren’t feeling 100 percent and still played each game to the best of their ability.”

In addition to their effort, Scott said the Lady Tigers have also improved in some key areas that were weaknesses for them last year, her first year in charge of the program.

“My team has improved on their serving percentage. We really struggled last season on handing over points to our opponents because of serving errors,” she said.

“I am proud of each of my players. They have all stepped up and improved each game,” Scott added.

One player, in particular, has caught Scott’s eye with her performances despite her experience level.

“One player I think of when speaking about stepping up is Aryana Neighbors,” Scott said. “She plays with a level head and consistently hustles. This is her first varsity season and seems to be adjusting well.”

Taken together—the effort and the steady improvement—the differences between last year and this season have shown through in matches. Scott said that was most clear during Red Bay’s matches against area foe Sulligent and their rival from across the border, Belmont.

“Our matches against Sulligent and Belmont were important matches to our team,” she said. “We got the win over Sulligent and this put us 1-0 in our area play. Although we did not win against Belmont, we performed well and hustled through each set. In past games, Belmont pushed through the sets, ending the sets quickly.”

The Lady Tigers still have plenty of important matches left to play this season; Scott said there are areas her team still needs to improve in if they are going to come out with the favored result in those matches, but she’s anticipating more and more progression from her team as they move through the remainder of the schedule.

“My expectations for this season were for them to focus on improving our communication on the court,” she said. 

“They need to improve on keeping focus and rhythm during our games and to be continuously moving, making it hard for our opponents to catch us off guard,” Scott added. “Our defense has weak spots, and any good team is going to pick those weaknesses out immediately.

“I am looking forward to watching my girls continue to improve and grow as a team. I hope to see them reach our preseason goals.”

Red Bay faces area opponent Lamar County in its next match on Tuesday, September 24th.