Young Vina volleyball program focused on growth entering first varsity season

Two years ago, in August 2024, Vina High School played its first ever volleyball match, a home junior varsity game against Tharptown. Today, the VHS volleyball program is just a couple of weeks away from playing in its first ever competitive varsity contest in its first year of eligibility for postseason play.

The head coach of the Lady Red Devils, Brittany Pannell, helped start the program after feedback and sustained interest from students. At the time, Vina was the only school in the county without a volleyball program.

“I had so many girls begging me to get volleyball going, so I asked again if we could have it,” Pannell told the Franklin Free Press then.

Pannell went to Franklin County Schools Superintendent Greg Hamilton and got the green light. The rest, as they say, is history.

Of course, asking permission to start a program is one thing; building a program from scratch with student-athletes that had never played organized volleyball before—well, that’s something else entirely.

“It’s a growing experience for all of us, that’s for sure,” Pannell said. “I’d never coached volleyball before, and when we started a lot of our girls had never played before. I’m constantly watching and trying to learn new things and trying to help them learn new things. It’s definitely a learning process for all of us.

“Our first year we only won one game and then last year we won two, so I’m hoping that just continues to build,” she added.

Fortunately for Pannell, despite results not going Vina’s way to this point, her players have remained eager students of the game, continually trying to improve.

“It’s still new for everybody, but (the players are) constantly sending me videos and I’m sending them videos in our group chat all the time. They’re always wanting to practice, and they get disappointed if we’re not practicing almost every day, so that’s encouraging,” Pannell said.

The Lady Red Devils’ coach has stressed to her players the importance of retaining that resilient attitude and desire for improvement as this first varsity season rolls along, too, because she’s under no illusions of what this still nascent program has in front of it. There will be some difficult moments.

Vina will be playing in Class 1A Area 13, the only five-team volleyball area in 1A (and, in all likelihood, the hardest), which includes Addison, Hackleburg, Meek and Phillips. Meek made it to the semifinals last season and won a state championship in 2015—but those achievements pale in comparison to Addison’s. A volleyball powerhouse, the Lady Bulldogs have been area champions for 24 straight seasons. In that same span Addison has never failed to reach the playoff semifinals and has won 15 state championships.

Pannell said she reminds herself and her players to keep things in perspective.

“I hate to lose, but then again I just have to keep telling myself that we’re all still learning. I know this will be our third year, and that may sound like a long time but it’s really not when you’re just starting to learn a new sport,” she said.

“I’d like to see the older (players) get a win this year, just to give them a boost of confidence, but if we don’t, we don’t. That, to me, isn’t as big of a deal because it is still new to them, and they don’t need to compare themselves to girls that have been playing since they were in the fifth or sixth grade,” she added.

“We have to go up against Addison and Meek this year, and I’m a little nervous about it, but, you know, going up against good teams that have been established for a long time, that’s only going to make us better.

“I don’t ever want them to be discouraged. I keep telling the girls, you know, Meek and Addison are both really great teams and you can learn a lot from them. We’re going to take it as a learning experience whatever happens. We’ll learn from it and we’ll just get better and better.”

Vina may suffer some bumps and bruises while they play out their schedule, but the varsity experience will be good for several younger players that Pannell is excited about—players she believes will take strides in their game this season.

One of those players is Cecilia Rowbottom, a tall freshman that is expected to be key to the defensive effort.

“She’s six-one or six-two, I think. She’s really young, but she’s learning every year, and she’s a good blocker. She’s really picked up on her blocking already this year,” Pannell said. “She made a couple of good blocks last year, but I’m really seeing improvement with her so I’m really excited about that.”

Another young player is freshman Lindie Easterling. What Easterling lacks in size, Pannell said, she more than makes up for in work ethic. The coach is considering playing her at libero this season.

“She’s small but mighty,” Pannell said. “She’s by far the smallest kid on the team, but she’s a go-getter and she’ll do anything you ask her.

“She puts her heart into everything she does and will work harder than anyone,” she added. “I’m going to try her out as libero this year, but that’s a new thing for us—we’ve never used a libero before. So we’ll try that out and see how that goes.”

Freshman Miley Pannell, who suffered frightful injuries in a serious accident and missed all of last season, is also expected to be back on the court after her recovery and contributing for the Lady Red Devils. 

And then there is Harper Dean, a seventh-grader whom Pannell anticipates having a bright future.

“I’m really excited about her coming up,” Pannell said. “She’s a tremendous athlete and a tremendous asset to our team. I’m excited to have her for a long time.”

The Lady Red Devils also have two seniors that Pannell was keen to praise: Kenzie Elrod and Lana Bell.

Elrod and Bell only just came out for the team this season so they don’t quite have the same volleyball experience of some of their teammates. What the two multi-sport athletes do bring to the table, however, is maturity and leadership. 

“I was really excited to have some seniors on the team this year,” Pannell said. “It’s great to have the older girls who can be good leaders.

“Starting something new at their age is hard, but they’ve picked it right up and ran with it and I think they’re loving it,” she added. “Obviously volleyball is a lot different than basketball or softball, but there are skills you can take from all the other sports and apply it to volleyball. 

“They have great attitudes, they’re great leaders and I just think the world of them. I’m really excited to see how far they can go with it.”

As Pannell alluded to many times during her conversation with the FFP, Vina’s first season of varsity volleyball will be a continuation of a growing experience—both for coach and players—that began two years ago.

For such a young program, wins and losses can only be a part of the story. Every serve, every kill, every block; every point, every set, every match will be that much more valuable experience for players that just three years ago had hardly touched a volleyball.

Whether or not the Lady Red Devils get the wins they want this campaign, they’ll certainly receive—from competing against some of the best teams in the state—the experience they need to help them achieve their goal: getting just a little bit better every day.

“We’re excited and really ready to get this season going,” Pannell said.