Through the season, the Cassville volleyball team’s goals shifted to a focus on team cohesion, building a program under a new coach and nurturing young talent.

Paige Huddleston, Cassville volleyball coach, said the Lady Wildcats (2-27) made some big strides despite their record.

“Team goals were a bit dynamic this season as we progressed, and it became more about playing our best as a team than just focusing on winning,” she said. “We had some players that reached their individual goals for progress in their game and getting better in different parts of their individual game. Individually, we made some big strides this season, we just have to continue to get work on putting it on the court as one unit.”

Cassville’s wins came both came at home, the first on Aug. 30 over Blue Eye, and the second on Nov. 10 over Monett. The Lady Wildcats fell to Mt. Vernon in the first round of district action.

Huddleston said throughout the season, improvements on the court were noticeable.

“Our biggest improvements were seen in serve receive and passing,” she said. “At the start of our season this was something we struggled with from freshman up to varsity level. As the season progressed, we became more confident in our abilities to receive the hard serve and really improved our consistency in our passing game.”

Where some skills saw great improvement, Huddleston said others still have to be addressed.

“I would have liked to see more improvement in our ability to communicate,” she said. “Most don’t recognize the importance of communication between players and also just communicating what is happening on the other side of the net. I think we could have made more improvements in our ability to read our opponents and talk about that amongst our team.”

The Lady Wildcats lose a single senior, Dulce Rivera, and have a talented group of eighth-graders moving to the high school level next year.

“Dulce always had an impact, even if it wasn’t statistically,” Huddleston said. “She works hard and always played any position asked of her. She was a big voice on and off the court for us this year and someone we will miss.

“The incoming freshman group is going to be exciting to have, as they finished their season with a Big 8 Conference championship. I expect our underclassmen to challenge the older girls and push them to be better. Some of them may fight to see varsity time as they continue to get better.”

While the two wins were joyous moments for the team, Huddleston said the most memorable part of the season came in another contest.

“In our five-set match against McDonald County, although we didn’t come away with the W, the team played the best together that night,” she said. “It was a battle to the end, and it showed us that we do have the pieces to be a good team when we choose to execute.”

Execution will be one thing Huddleston hopes to improve next season, and those goals are already being set.

“We learned we are going to have to make some changes and work hard to reach certain goals,” she said. “It takes a tough mindset to reach the big goals and that is something we will need to have to attain the goals this team has for the future.

“Our goal for next season is to be better than this season as far as win category. However, my biggest goal is to break the mold and better the mindset of my young athletes. I want to challenge them to be the best they can be, on and off the court. We have a bright future at Cassville volleyball and I am excited to bring in some young athletes to work beside the talent that we currently have.”

As a team, the Lady Wildcats had 542 kills, 138 aces, 71 blocks, 466 assists and 1,164 digs.

Emerson Grossman led the team in kills with 236 and was second in aces with 23 and digs with 179. She was on the McDonald County Tournament Team, was named Second Team All-District and Second Team All-Conference.

Pazlee Burbridge has the most blocks on the team with 17, and most aces with 39. she was second in kills with 122 and third in digs with 172. She was named Honorable Mention All-District.

Audrey Gosvener led the team in digs with 255 and was third in aces with 18. She was named Honorable Mention All-District. Emma Pryor led the team in assists with 179.