Leesville Road volleyball
Just four contests into the season, Sasha Karelov (left), Dany Rube and the Leesville Road volleyball program have shown plenty of improvement. And while the Pride is entering its beyond difficult conference schedule, expectations are beginning to rise.
Cougars overcome Pride volleyball
Following Thursday's 3-0 loss to Wake Forest-Rolesville, first-year Leesville Road volleyball coach Taine Mergenthaler said he's really appreciated the kind words he's received from parents and supporters after games.
Their thoughtfulness is quite comforting, he explained, but eventually he hopes they'll give him a rough time. And he meant it — jokingly.
"I hoping someday we can get our program to where I get people telling me I did a bad job after a loss, not a good job," he laughed. "I want to get to the point where people expect us to do well."
But Mergenthaler and the Pride are on the ground floor of the program's rebuilding process. And change takes time. However, signs of progress are beginning to show.
Battling one of the Cap-7 Conference's best teams Thursday, Leesville dropped the first set 25-20, but fought in each of the next two sets, pushing the Lady Cougars to the limit.
WF-R narrowly escaped with a 26-24 victory in the second, and 25-22 in the final.
In fact, in the third set, the Pride jumped out to an early lead 11-5 on Katie Stammen's strong serving. But the Cougars chipped away, winning 12 of the set's final 17 points, sealing the straight-set victory.
Despite the defeat, Mergenthaler can see his squad's development in just the course of a few weeks.
"We are starting to play like a team," he explained. "Before we weren't always in unison. It was like six different people playing together. But today, for the most part, everybody was playing together. I am very happy about that."
With a mixture of veterans like Rachel Wood an Dana Verhoeven and younger players like Sasha Karelov and Stammen, the Pride — although 0-4 this season — appear on the verge of making a breakthrough.
Mergenthaler admitted it might sound cliche, but it's been a team improvement and not just a single player.
And while their development is surely a positive, it also means that expectations must also rise as well.
"I've told the girls we can't be happy yet because we haven't gotten the end result that we are looking for," the Leesville Road coach said. "From now on, this has got to be the worst that you play, and anything less is unacceptable. That's how we will step it up and get to the next level."
The Pride's schedule should push the improving squad, especially next week's contests with Enloe (Sept. 8; home) and Broughton (Sept. 10; away).
After posting just a single win last year, members of the Pride volleyball program have already cleared their first hurdle this fall: believing they can win.
"The way they played today gives them hope," Mergenthaler said. "Before they didn't have that. You can see it in their eyes now. When we walk into our next conference game, we will legitimately believe we have a shot to win — because we do.
"It's a matter of getting our heads right, and we're almost there."
