By GALEN WELLNICKI The quest shifts into a higher gear Wednesday afternoon when the Georgetown Lady Eagles open practice for the upcoming season.
Despite the loss of four starters from last year’s Region III-5A finalist squad, coach Rhonda Farney’s team will be starting final preparations for what is expected to be the Lady Eagles’ 29th consecutive winning season and 28th straight trip to the state playoffs.
“We are looking forward to the beginning of the season on Wednesday,” Farney said. “This is a day that we have looked forward to since last spring.
“At the present, we will begin the season without volleyball standout Emery Herman. We hope she and her team play deep into the volleyball playoffs. Also, we will be without Jaelyn Knight for the beginning of practice as she continues to recover from a shoulder injury suffered during the open NCAA recruitment weekend On September 23-24 at Frisco.
“Our team is not young, but we lack experience. Hopefully, we will gain valuable experience competing against some of the best players and teams in the state.”
Herman, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, was the District 19-5A Co-Newcomer of the Year as a freshman. Playing in all 36 games of Georgetown’s 28-8 season last year. Herman averaged 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and three steals a game.
She is the lone returning starter as 19-5A MVP Dee Day and first-team all-district twins Brooke and Taylor Elliott have graduated, while junior Emily Jones hasd elected to concentrate on softball. Day and B. Elliott have gone on to play college basketball at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., and Mary Hardin-Baylor, respectively.
Knight, a 6-0 junior, is expected to miss at least three weeks and is considered to be one of the Lady Eagles’ top scoring and rebounding threats this year. She averaged 5.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season.
With Knight temporarily on the shelf, sophomores McCall Hampton and Mackenzy Mouton are getting the reps in practices.
Other players returning from last year are senior point guard Josie Weirich, small in stature but the possessor of a lethal 3-point shot and court smarts; senior guard Maddie Vickers, an energetic defender; and 6-0 junior post Jade Smith, one of several players who split last season between the varsity and district champion junior varsity.
Also on hand are several other players, who split time between the JV and varsity last season or were called up to the varsity for the playoffs — junior point guard Ali Isbell, senior post Emili Harris, junior guard Samari O’Brien, sophomore guard Kylie Ellsworth and junior guard Gracie Speer.
On most days, the Lady Eagles’ varsity and JV pools will work out from 3 to 6 p.m., including the athletic period, and the freshman teams will practice from 7 or 7:15 to 9 a.m.
The Lady Eagles are scheduled to scrimmage Austin Westlake on the Chaps’ courts at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, and at Pflugerville Hendrickson on Wednesday, Nov. 1, before opening the regular season at Waco Midway on Monday, Nov. 6.
The 16-game District 19-5A campaign will begin on Tuesday, Nov. 28, and continue through Tuesday, Feb. 6.
Coaching assignments will remain static this season with Kellye Richardson directing the JV, Kristin Curtis the Freshman Blue and Kevin Spruill the Freshman White.
The Meet the Eagles Chili Supper is scheduled from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 29, in the GHS cafeteria.
LADY EAGLES TO OPEN PRACTICE
