Published: August 06, 2008 12:01 am            

No time to dilly-dally

Lady Hornets and their new head coach quickly preparing for ’08 campaign, which begins next week

On the outside, Brittany Brumbelow appears calm and cool, not the least bit anxious. Inside, she may feel differently, but the new varsity volleyball coach at Huntsville High School doesn’t want to talk about that.

There’s no time for idle chitchat.

“We start two-a-days tomorrow, then we scrimmage Friday,” Brumbelow said Tuesday after cutting practice about 30 minutes short due to the threat of foul weather from Tropical Storm Edouard.

The Lady Hornets play their first match next Tuesday and the first serve of the District 18-4A season is scheduled Sept. 12. That leaves little time for anything but hard work, something Brumbelow said the Huntsville players showed up ready for bright and early Monday morning.

“It’s been going really good,” the first-year head coach said of the first two workouts. “Right now we’re trying to get our teams aligned and figure out who’s going where. We’re also working really hard on defense. That has been our main focus the first two days.”

Already, the Lady Hornets agree with Brumbelow. Defense may be the secret ingredient that turns a third-place finisher last season into a district champion in 2008.

“Defense is what killed us last year,” senior Chelsea Baker said after practice Tuesday. “We have a great offense, but our defense needs some work. We’re talking more and there’s more communication. We just need to keep working on our defense before district starts.”

For a few hours Monday and Tuesday, the Lady Hornets concentrated on skill-specific drills with Brumbelow and her assistant coaches keeping a close eye on two courts in the Paul Bohan Hornet Gym.

The Lady Hornets’ passing, hitting and serving may not be as sharp as it will be next month when the team begins its 12-match district schedule against the likes of Brenham, Montgomery, Magnolia and Willis, but Brumbelow says she has been pleased with her players’ performance to date.

“I see people working hard, and that’s what I want to see this week,” Brumbelow said. “We’ve got some open spots on our varsity team, spots that are open for whoever shows up and takes them.”

Late Tuesday afternoon, Brumbelow posted the lists of varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams. Forced to make some tough choices, Brumbelow and her assistants spent a couple of hours “hashing out” the names of the girls who attended the first two days of practice.

With eight players returning to the varsity team, Brumbelow has been looking for a few girls who could step in and help the Lady Hornets in their quest for their ninth consecutive postseason berth.

“I’m excited. We’ve got a lot of good hitters and we’re returning most of our defense,” the eager, young coach said. “We have the bulk of our team back. Of course, we’ll miss the players we lost to graduation, but we’ve got five seniors returning, and they’re going to have to be our leaders.”

Baker, who came on strong at the end of last season, said she’s ready to accept a leadership role. She got a taste of the state playoffs last fall when Huntsville advanced to the Region III quarterfinals where they lost for the third consecutive time to rival Brenham.

Baker and a few of her 2008 teammates have been waiting 10 months for the Lady Hornets’ next crack at the Cubettes.

“Four teams are going to the playoffs this year, but we’re not going to finish fourth,” she said confidently. “We’re getting first. I’m already ready for Brenham. We have to wait until the last game of district before we play Brenham (on Oct. 3). We’re sure going to be ready.”

        

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