Lady Tigers foresee good year

Mountain Home Lady Tiger volleyball coach Heather Cherry came out of Saturday's Volleyball-a-thon feeling good about the upcoming volleyball season.

"We had four (freshmen, sophomore, JV and varsity) teams here, a total of 39 girls, and a lot of volleyball. They played at least eight games, and we saw a lot of improvement. It was really exciting!"

The girls were divided up into seven teams of five to six girls each, with the Saturday morning session spent in round-robin action. After lunch, they played a double elimination tournament, seeded by their won-loss records from the round- robin play.

The teams playing for the championship were the Globe Hitters and the Pixies, with the Globe Hitters, consisting of Ali Hillman, Lisa Kellerman, Darcy Smith, Kim Hamilton and Melinda Spagnola, winning the championship.

Last year's Lady Tiger varsity squad played a lot of tough matches, but came up with just one victory.

Coach Cherry sees a lot of positive changes this season.

"Our varsity team is real strong. We have a lot of strength, we have a lot of height, the girls can hit, they hustle, they're court-smart and I think they're really going to be exciting to watch.

"I foresee a better team in terms of wins and losses, but already I've seen a tremendous amount of growth in just those girls who were playing last year, so the outlook is really, really good.

"Our sophomore team and JV team are a bit young, and for the most part, are coming along, and by the end of the season, I think they're going to be ready to move up to the next level next year."

This year sees Nampa and Skyview moving back down to 4A after two years at 5A. Cherry expects a very competitive conference race.

"I think our conference is probably going to be closer together in terms of the competition level than maybe they were in the last couple years, so it should be fun volleyball to watch, and I think we're going to be in there. I think we're going to be able to show some people that we're better than they think we are."

The Lady Tigers opened at home last night against Kuna and travel to Emmett tomorrow night. They are back home next Tuesday against Skyview, travel to Bishop Kelly on Sept. 9, and go to the Twin Falls Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Sept. 11.