BY MATTHEW PEASLEE
BLACKSVILLE — Clay-Battelle’s first-year volleyball coach is excited to start a new adventure this season. Matt Wood takes the reigns over from Casey Rollins, who recently took a new position in Charleston.
Wood is no stranger to Clay-Battelle and this crop of Cee-Bees, though. He’s been involved with the school for six years and actually coached some of these girls in middle school basketball. He also had one year of volleyball coaching experience at the middle school level and was an assistant basketball coach at C-B under Dave Joyce.
Wood also spent time as an instructor of special education at West Liberty.
“I’m always ready and willing to learn,” Wood said. “I’m excited to be back with this group of girls. We are going to be growing and learning together.
“It’s a very positive thing coming back and taking this role. I think we work well together because we know each other and they understand a lot about the sport.”
The C-B volleyball team is young, with no seniors on the roster. Six juniors, who have playing experience, will provide leadership and guidance to the rest of the team.
The juniors are Hannah Hanlin, Caitlynn Patterson, Isabel Lapoe, Heaven Tennant, Allison King, and Kendal Saul.
“Kendal is our setter and she’ll have a good season,” Wood said.
Lydia Moore is one of five sophomores who will contribute this year after having experience playing JV last year.
“They are a good group of girls,” Wood said. “They’ve been playing together for a long time, so they have good communication with each other. I’m looking for some good things from them this year.”
Wood also expects several freshmen to fight for playing time at the varsity level.
“The girls work really hard,” Wood said. “I’m proud of the way they work. They’ve shown to be very dedicated to the sport. They want to get better and I think we will grow as the season goes on.”
Wood met most of the team in July during the three-week practice period. Recently, the Cee-Bees took advantage of two flex practice days to get onto the court. Full practice will begin next week.
Focusing on repetition and hitting are the basic keys to starting a successful season.
“We’re really working on serving,” Wood said. “We have to get our serving down if we want to have a chance. We are also working on setting and passing. Right now, we’re building up their fundamentals and we’ll get more in-depth once the season starts.”
Clay-Battelle’s first match is against Tygarts Valley at the end of the month.
TWEET @dompostsports
