The Levelland Loboette Volleyball team has been working hard these past few weeks with their regular season beginning.
With summer workouts and two-a-days the Loboette program holds every year, they held their first scrimmage against the Denver City Mustangs.
Traveling to Denver City, all three Loboette teams were able to test their abilities. The scrimmage was held August 8, with JV Red and JV Black taking the court first before the Varsity squad.
The Loboettes are coached by former Loboette and now Head Coach Whitney Gibson and this will be her third year as the head of the program.
“I think summer workouts were good and I think we had a very good showing all summer long. I was pleasantly surprised with the girls and how they showed up consistently,” said Coach Gibson. “There were a lot of freshmen, which is really exciting and everyone that showed up in summer workouts showed up to tryouts.”
Coach Gibson felt her girls started a little slow but understands that’s how it is at the beginning of two-a-days. By the end of it, the coach saw a lot of competition and growth from the girls.
For the girls Varsity team they are looking forward to getting this season started as they are certain they can make a splash this year and that they have a good team to do it. The Loboettes have a few returning players and a quality younger class that has shown signs of improvement and dedication.
“They are really coming into their own and are having great strides in their learning. I think the varsity will be good, we have five or six returning varsity players this year, I think that helps with leadership and helps the team as a whole when they know the plays and know what to expect at the next level,” explained Coach Gibson. “Our new players haven’t experienced it yet and I know our senior leaders will offer that guidance to help them and take the load off of some of the coaches.”
“Coach Gibson acknowledged the roster does have younger girls that have seamlessly made the jump and make it look easy.
“Those girls have adjusted so well and fit right in,” said Coach Gibson. “They know they have to mature and they have to show the dedication that the seniors and juniors all have.”
Coach Gibson feels that the team has a couple of standout players that are stepping up into their role and showing signs of them being a great team on and off the court. Additionally, they also have a well-rounded team of seniors that are going to be showing the younger girls the ropes and what to expect at the next level of competition.
“Some of the key and vocal players that have led this team are Taylyn Ledesma who is going to be our center and all around player, Maddie Stafford who will be a DS for us; those two are our more vocal leaders and they both are showing up early to practice by sometimes an hour,” said Coach Gibson. “The girls are super excited and are being really good teammates, Tay’s quieter, but you just can’t ignore her on the court, she works so hard and she does big things that the girls just get so excited about. She’s one that the girls look to for excitement and positivity.”
The Loboettes will have a total of three teams in Varsity, JV Black and JV Red for the girls to learn off of each other and learn at their own pace. Each team has about 12 to 13 kids on those squads so they know they have the numbers, they just need confirmation on the determination of the kids to show while they are learning and playing.
“We had a huge number of kids that came out and it was really hard to make the choices on which kids get to stay and which ones that should tryout next year because for us it was really hard to cut these great players that have really good potential,” said Coach Gibson. “I think both of the JV teams are going to be really good and that they will make our Varsity better as a team.”
The teams first games of the season was a two-day tournament, August 11 through the 12, at Shallowater where they showed off their skills and what the team had been working for all summer long. They start district play September 23 against the Sweetwater Mustangs as the away team, varsity will start at 12 noon while the jv black and jv red team will play before them. The Loboettes will get a lot of support from the community and will be tough to beat with packed stands.