The First Coast High School volleyball team has dealt with challenging opponents after being classified in Class 8A and Class 7A the past years. Some of their toughest opponents in the district include Fletcher and Atlantic Coast, according to First Coast head coach Kayla Solon.
Assistant Coach Shelby Kelley says, “We prepare our defense for the other team’s competitive offense.”
The main goal this season for the Buccaneers is to improve their record from last season and to improve the team’s overall moral. The team plans to work on communication on the court during a match as they feel it will help them win more games and achieve their goals.
Kelley says this is a very young team that doesn’t have a lot of volleyball experience.
“As a coach, I plan to teach the players the basic fundamentals of volleyball because that is where it all starts,” Solon says.
Solon and Kelley plan to hold the players accountable for their mistakes during practice by running a lap around the gym for every mistake. A common mistake could be for a lack of communication on the court.
The main expectation that the coaches have from their players is to give it 100 percent during every practice, scrimmage, and game. If the players give it everything they have and still come up short, the coaches will be satisfied.
The Buccaneers open up every practice with a 5 lap run around the gym, team stretches, and warming up in assigned partners. The partners are assigned based on ability and room for improvement.
The middle of practice can vary day to day. Some of the activities include playing games, running drills, and splitting up the team to have a scrimmage. Their practices have been located at the Oceanway Middle gym recently due to the redoing of the gym floors at First Coast.
Once the floors are redone, the Buccaneers will return to having practices in their gym and be ready for the season to begin with brand new floors.
Some of the leaders on the team this year include Jaylee St. John and Kaitlyn Bland, who will help lead and guide this team towards improvement.
Kelley says, ‘I am most looking forward to improving as a team from last year to this year and working on individual weaknesses that will improve our team overall.”
First Coast opens the season on the road back-to-back games with trips August 21 at Sandalwood and August 23 at Parker.
