Discovery volleyball team still undefeated
MADISON- With a swift strike, Rachel Mecklenberg smacks a serve that would not be coming back across the net. The lefthanded hitter had another big game as Discovery seventh-grade team cruised to a 25-6 and 25-18 win over Monrovia Tuesday.
The Panthers are undefeated in the regular season and won the Panther Smash at Huntsville and Liberty Jamboree Tournament.
The roster goes deep with skill sets not often seen at this level.
The starting six include Abby Preus who had several aces, Mecklenberg who is one of the tallest players, Meg Jarrett who can score from the net or back row, Emily Kirstein the setter who can also score, AJ Vineski another lefty and one of the best servers on the team, and Abby Harbin a right-side hitter.
There is plenty of depth as the rotation goes at least 10 deep. Allee Lyons, Ava Cox, and Mallory Morgan come off the bench.
Abbie Harris is the first-year head coach at Discovery after long-time coach Jenny Jarrett moved to Bob Jones. Loren Olive Springer coaches the seventh-grade team while Harris works with both teams and coaches the eighth-grade team which is also enjoying a great season.
Volleyball has now overtaken basketball in the number of girls in high school playing the sport. Girls love the competition without all the banging and contact you get in basketball. Plus there is a place on the court for all size girls.
Discovery reflects this national trend Harris said.
“Volleyball is growing because it is such a team sport and they have to work together. You can’t have one player that does it all.
This is a small team but they can hit the ball well. They played club ball in fifth and sixth grade so it was an easy transition to seventh grade. Fundamentals is what we focus on to get them ready for the next level. Passing, hitting, and setting are what we want all the girls to work on. Serving is the name of the game in middle school volleyball. If you can’t serve you can’t win. We practice that a lot.”
Harris came to Discovery from West Morgan where she was a teacher and coached basketball and middle school volleyball. She teaches sixth grade math at Discovery. Harris played basketball and volleyball at Priceville High and graduated from Mobile College.
To play volleyball even in middle school the girls must develop remarkable endurance. One tournament that DMS won lasted 12 hours in one day. The girls get three-hour breaks.
Against Monrovia the team showed remarkable grasp of the game; no mental errors, very few physical errors, and dominating serving. They knew where to position themselves. They also showed good overall understanding of the game.
You still have several chances to see the Discovery teams play games on Sept. 17, 18, 20, and 24 home games. Start time is 4:30. The county tournament will be Sept. 25 – 27 at Monrovia.
