New faces, same familiar result for Polk County Middle’s volleyball squad.
The Wolverines opened the 2024 season Wednesday with a 2-0 sweep of Asheville Christian Academy, downing the Lions 25-12, 25-18 at Polk.
The debut brought a smile to the face of head coach Kenny Hall, who has the task this year of replacing his entire starting lineup from last season. That team finished 14-3, won a second straight Blue Ridge Conference East Division title and reached the BRC tourney final for a second straight year.
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“It’s always great to get your first win of the year,” Hall said. “I thought we did some things well today. And, obviously, we have a lot of other things to work on.
“We have a group of girls that aren’t familiar with playing together 100 percent yet. We’ve started our season a little earlier than usual, so we haven’t had as much time to be as cohesive as we’re going to need to be moving forward with our schedule.”
Polk Middle controlled play throughout the first set, but the Lions kept the second set close until the final stages, when a Kenzie Alm serving run helped give the Wolverines breathing room. Polk Middle closed the match moments later.
The Wolverines will be back in action on Monday, traveling to Smoky Mountain Middle while working to continue finding their early-season groove.
“We’ve got some players wit a lot of experience, some that have played with a couple of differnt clubs, some that don’t have as much experience,” Hall said. “So we’re working to try and put it all together to make another big run this year.”
