KHS Volleyball hopes to still be playing in November

As we continue our fall sports preview specials, we turn our attention to the KHS Indians' Volleyball team.

This year, head coach Laura Ort and her team hope that they'll be still playing in November, which means that they hope to be competing for a district and state title at the end of the season.

"Obviously, we want to be playing in November," said Ort. "Our goal is to compete for a district title and move our way through sectionals and on to state. Although I might have a young team this year, these girls are hard workers and their athletes that are hungry for victories this season."

When asked about how impressed she was about her team's effort through the first couple of days of practice, Ort said that she can't be any more proud of their effort and abilities. "I've got a good group of kids out here this year. They come out every day and work hard and I've been impressed with their physical condition this early into the season."

Staying with the conditioning part of their game, Ort said that she will use these next couple of weeks to condition the girls so that they're in great shape and staying healthy as the season progresses. "These girls know that I expect them to work hard every time they step on to the court," said Ort. "I know that we're going to do every possible to get these girls into shape so that they're at 100 percent every time we play."

With the majority of the varsity players being juniors, Ort said that she's excited, along with those girls, that they get to finally get their turn at the varsity level. "With us only having two returning varsity starters from last year's team, the juniors on the team are excited to get some varsity time and I'll be looking for them to step up and be leaders on this team."

If there's one aspect of their game that Ort feels like the girls need to work on, it's their on-court communication. "One thing that we're really going to have to work on before the season starts it's our communication, said Ort. "If we don't talk and communicate on the court with each other, then we're going to have problems. Since a lot of these girls haven't played with each other, it's key that we get focus on communication while we improve our game."

"Overall, I've been impressed with their effort and I look forward to a great season," said Ort. "If we work hard and prepare ourselves the way we should, then we should have a successful season. Through the first couple of weeks, I'm going to push these girls to get to their peak performance and it's going to be hard on them, but they know that I'm doing that to them because I want them to win and to work hard as a team."

The Lady Indians will open their 2010 campaign on August 30 at home as they take on Delta C-7 starting at 6 p.m.

Page nine of this issue has the Lady Indians' full schedule and start times.