Young Lady Airedales ready to make impact next season
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
The Alma Lady Airedales junior high squad celebrated an outright conference championship this season with the type of inspired play that could pave the way for senior high success next season and beyond.
The Lady Airedales’ junior high squad won 21 games and finished 10-0 in the regular season before splitting a pair of conference matches Saturday at Charles B. Dyer Arena.
Coach Whitney Adams’ squad finished with an overall record of 21-4.
“This is a huge moment for volleyball in Alma and the Alma volleyball program," Alma head coach Kim Weaver said. "Just to see the fire that has been lit by this season, and that has everything to do with what Whitney's done for the last four years now.
“I believe it’s a fire (momentum) that won’t be put out anytime soon.”
Two of Adams’ leaders, setters Matilyn Dunn and Jaslyn Boone, could make a quick transition for the Lady Airedales in 2024. Dunn and Boone may be just what the doctor ordered following the graduation of three-year standout Julia Nutt.
"Losing Julia at setter for the last three seasons, it'll be exciting for Matilyn and Jaslyn to step into that role possibly and run this offense," Adams said. “(They) have done a great job distributing the ball, making sure everyone is contributing but still feeding the hot hands. Bailee Oliver has been a force as our libero and makes some very difficult digs look easy. She’s had multiple matches of 35-plus digs, which is difficult to do when we only play the best two out of three.”
Emberly Kimes, Jaeda Cahoon, Bella Peters, and Anna Swarnes bring firepower, too.
"Emberly is obviously very athletic and can do a lot of things on the offensive side, and then on the defensive side it's the blocking. It will really be fun to watch them mesh with our outstanding sophomores from last year who are continuing to grow under coach Weaver."
"The offense they've run the last two years is very similar to what we run," Weaver said. "They have a ton of experience running our offense. They'll make a seamless transition into our program, so that's huge that they've had that offense as freshmen."
Peters, Swarnes, and defensive specialist Bailee Oliver were also strong in serve-receive. Because of the way the offense is set up, Swarnes and Peters rarely come out, Adams said.
“They never get a break, both of them playing all six rotations,” Adams said. “Their serve-receive numbers have been consistently impressive, which helps our whole offense. Our middles, Jaeda Cahoon and Emberly Kimes have transformed their offense a little bit, not only running quicks but also running what’s called a ‘3,’ which has allowed them to be an offensive threat even when the pass isn’t perfect. Peyton Morris and Julia McAlister have put the work in to have a more explosive approach and arm swing, and have helped a lot on defense with their blocking presence.”
What made the 2023 season even more of a success is that the roster dropped from 15 in 2022 to just nine this fall. At one point, Oliver said, the Airedales had 13 players in fall camp.
“This team means everything,” she explained. “We started out with 13, and now we’re nine, and we’ve gotten really close.”
“Every player on our roster has been an impact player in one match or another,” Adams said. “Only having nine players on the roster, we actually had a lot of options of what our lineup could look like because our players are so well rounded. They’ve put in the work during off-season practice with many of them playing travel ball at FSJ or Alpha Select, and it’s made a huge difference in their game in terms of skill and the ability to be mentally tough.”
After earning an automatic bye heading into Saturday’s Northwest Arkansas Conference tournament, Alma shrugged off a slow start against Van Buren for a 25-18, 25-14 triumph. Against Greenwood, however, a team Alma had just beaten two days earlier, the Lady Airedales dropped a tough 25-22, 26-28, 15-11 decision.
"I don't know where the errors came from today; maybe it was a little bit of nerves,” Adams said. “But what I told the girls in the (post-game) huddle, not taking anything away from Greenwood, but we're the ones that showed every day in the conference and finished 10-and-0, and one bad game doesn't take away from what we were able to do all season."