Tharptown volleyball team striving to surpass 2025 success, reach new heights in 2026

Coming off a 2025 campaign that saw the Tharptown High School varsity volleyball team win 17 games and take the Franklin County Tournament crown, the Lady Wildcats are ready to pounce on the 2026 season and take another stride forward with an experienced team.

Despite losing five players to graduation last season, including standouts Alyssa Fischer and Malia McCullar, the Lady Wildcats have another five seniors to replace them, plus four juniors and a good group of talented underclassmen to help out.

Tharptown head coach Lori Huffaker, entering her second season in charge of the program, told the Franklin Free Press the team’s summer preparations have gone well, and she’s looking forward to the start of the school year and the season.

One area of priority for THS this offseason was replacing Fischer, a key member of past squads as the team’s main setter.

“Graduating Alyssa Fischer left some big shoes to fill, but we have a couple of girls with setting experience that are seniors, so we’re planning on running a 6-2 offense this year with two setters,” Huffaker said. “That allows us to sub in someone on the front row that’s taller, and that’s going to be an advantage when we get that worked out. Once we get that offense down pat and running like a well-oiled machine, it’s going to be better for us in the long run.”

The two setters Huffaker has in mind in this new system are two of the five seniors, McKinley Vandiver and Lexie Medina, both players new to Tharptown.

A third senior new to the program is Brooklyn McGaugy.

“All three are talented players, and I expect them all to really step up and fill some spots,” Huffaker said.

The other two seniors are Karrah Nichols and Jayden Partain, familiar faces and key returners who played a big role in the Lady Wildcats’ success last year. Last season Nichols was an FFP All-Franklin County Honorable Mention.

“I’m expecting big leadership from (Nichols) because she’s a senior and she’s been playing volleyball for a long time and plays club volleyball, too,” the head coach said. “She knows and she understands the game…and she’s always upbeat and encouraging to the other girls. That’s very important and it’s worth a lot and I appreciate that about her.

“Jayden is an important player and will be key for us on the back row,” Huffaker added of Partain.

Other notable returners include juniors Cadence Kennedy, a middle hitter, and Carly Cason, an outside hitter. Kennedy was also an FFP All-County Honorable Mention last season, and Cason is a two-time All-Franklin County player, tapped by AL.com as one of the top Class 2A players to watch this year.

“Carly is, of course, a great outside hitter,” said Huffaker, who also described Cason as a ‘powerhouse.’

“She was the County Tournament MVP last year, and we’re so glad to have her back,” she added.

“Cadence Kennedy is a great all-around player. She’s as equally good on the front row as she is on the back row, and she’ll do whatever you need her to do. She’s a great server. She’s just a good, solid all-around player,” Huffaker said.

Additionally, the Lady Wildcats have a cast of younger or less experienced student-athletes who will have opportunities to play varsity matches this year, especially during Saturday tournaments and after the junior varsity season is over. Among them are juniors Kyanni Franco and Kaitlyn Vasquez and sisters Bella Carr, a sophomore, and Paisleigh Carr, an eighth-grader.

Tharptown will begin its campaign on the road on Thursday, August 20 with matches versus Red Bay and Haleyville. Between then and the last scheduled contests of the regular season on October 10, the Lady Wildcats will face off against several non-area programs of quality like rival Belgreen, Russellville, Central-Florence, and Loretto (Tenn.).

“We face good programs and some bigger schools in the regular season that will get us prepared for 2A area play, for sure. There are a lot of games that will be really good competition for us,” Huffaker said.

After the AHSAA realignment and reclassification this offseason, Tharptown’s area will look very different from the past few years. Last season the Lady Wildcats played in Class 2A Area 14 with Belgreen, Covenant Christian and Mars Hill; for the next two campaigns, Tharptown will play in 2A Area 13 with Lexington, Colbert County and Sheffield.

Huffaker believes these new area foes (Lexington and Sheffield, the two teams she has seen play recently, particularly) have the ability to create challenges, but she also believes that her team has the talent and ability to advance out of the area to the postseason, especially now with the addition of sub-regionals to the playoff schedule.

“Lexington is a powerhouse in volleyball and has been for years. I’ve seen them play this summer, and they’re a good, solid team. I’ve also seen Sheffield play this summer and they’re improved from last year, so you can’t count them out,” she said. “I’m expecting big things, but I definitely want to make it out of the area this year and I think we should.”

Next to finishing runner-up or better in the area tournament, Huffaker said the goals for her team include surpassing the 17 win total of last season and defending their Franklin County Tournament title.

“What we were able to do last year, especially winning the county tournament, I think that built up confidence in my girls,” Huffaker said. “Hopefully we can keep carrying that confidence into this year.

“Last year we made big strides, but I don’t want to just settle for that, I want to surpass that,” she added.