Kennard Lady Tiger Volleyball 2016

Kennard Volleyball Looks for Resurgence

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

KENNARD – The Kennard Lady Tigers are facing a challenge in the 2016 volleyball season. They are in a district where two teams are picked to go a long way in the playoffs and a third team is coming off an appearance in the Final Four at the Class A level. Add in a new coach and it may well be a long season in Kennard.

The new head volleyball coach is Jamie Minter who hopes to bring a new level of excitement to the program. “I’m going to be able to coach my daughter and I’ve been blessed to have taught all four of my daughters. My youngest is going to be a senior at Kennard and I thought this would be a perfect situation,” he said.

“I’m still learning this team. I have three returning seniors, I’m still learning all their names. We have Katie Minter, Whitney Cole and Maggie Parrish. Kennard is a small school district and we’re worried we not be able to field a JV team. Now we do have a couple of foreign exchange students who may be coming to Kennard and some of those have expressed an interest in playing some volleyball. I was asked to step in at the right time and we will be fairly competitive. There is a lot of youth on the team and we’re going to build on it,” he said.

Coach Minter expressed he had coached both girls’ and boys’ programs in the past. “Years ago, when I was coaching girls’ basketball and track, I had a coach who told me I needed to learn volleyball. And for the last few years, I have coached it and I’ve grown to really like it. A lot of people don’t realize, once you start talking strategy, it can be fairly complicated. There is a lot more to it than bump, set and hit,” Coach Minter said.

“There is an awful lot of teamwork involved in the game. You are going to have to communicate when you’re on that court. I was blessed with a team that already knows how to do that. From recognizing if there is a free ball coming over the net to calling it and setting up your offense. A lot of communication on the court is important,” he said.

“This is going to be one of the most competitive districts in the state,” Minter added. “The one thing I’ve always looked for as a coach and even back when I was playing, when you compete against teams that are really good. You get better. This will be a highly competitive district.”

HOW I SEE IT: The Lady Tigers are in an eight team district and have two perennial contenders to deal with in Centerville and Iola. Expect Iola and Centerville to finish first and second in District 22-2A. The battle for third and fourth will be intense as Normangee looks to return to the playoffs while North Zulch moves up from 1A where they reached last year’s state tournament.

The Lady Tigers are in a rebuilding year, but it’s going to be a tough season. They have great athletes and will battle all season long but they may not have enough to get past the pre-season favorites. Having said that, however, look for the Grapeland Sandiettes, the Lovelady Lady Lions, the Normangee Lady Panthers and the North Zulch Lady Bulldogs to battle it out for the third and fourth playoff spots out of District 22-2A.

It’s hard to pick against a team that went to state and only lost two key contributors. Even though they moved up in classification, look for the North Zulch Lady Bulldogs to take the number three seed out of District 22-2A.

Normangee loses a lot from last year’s team, but several of their underclassmen showed they can step in to fill the gaps. Expect the Lady Panthers to take the number four seed out of District 22-2A.

The silver lining to this cloud for the four Houston County teams (Grapeland, Kennard, Latexo and Lovelady) teams is Iola, Centerville, North Zulch and Normangee will beat up on each other throughout the season. If those teams slip up and lose a match or two they’re expected to win, you may see one of the Houston County teams slip into the postseason from the four hole.

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