Lady Wildcats again have a tough schedule
As the 2023 volleyball season looms, expectations are high for Oak Ridge High School.
The Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA Tournament in 2022, but they were eliminated in the Region 2-AAA Tournament by Heritage.
Oak Ridge will again play one of the area’s toughest schedules, and will face a stiff test out of the gate. The Lady Wildcats will open the 2023 campaign at home with a non-district match against Anderson County at Wildcat Arena.
The Lady Mavericks won both the District 4-AA and Region 2-AA tournaments in 2022 before falling in the state sectionals to Greeneville in Clinton.
Oak Ridge went 16-9 last season, and second-year Head Coach Audrey Sherles is looking for her team to make a deep postseason run.
“We’re looking to return to the regional tournament this year and we’re looking forward to competing with schools outside of our district that we will see higher up in the postseason tournaments,” Sherles said.
The coach said that her squad is looking to speed things on offense.
“We have a fast and athletic team,” Sherles said. “And we’re ready to work hard and adapt to a pace of playing. We want to run and we want to play with discipline.”
Top returners for the Lady Wildcats include: Peyton Uptgraft (junior, setter); Marissa Kenworthy (junior, libero); Heidi Wayland (junior, defensive specialist) and Christian McGinnis (sophomore, middle blocker).
Key newcomers, according to Sherles, include: Camryn McGinnis (freshman, middle blocker) and Annyia Osborne (freshman, libero).
Areas of concern for the Lady Wildcats are getting their young players ready to play in an up-tempo offensive attack while playing solid technical volleyball.
“We have to get our freshmen up to speed with the offense, because we want to run,” Sherles said.
“Our other concern is adjusting to the technical side of the game and the IQ piece of learning the game.”