Future Bright For Lady Wildcats Volleyball
The Monterey Lady Wildcats saw their season come to an end on Monday night in a wild back-and-forth match that ended in a 3-2 win for Bledsoe County.
After Bledsoe took the opening two sets, Monterey fought back to win the third and fourth sets. This sent the match to an all-decisive fifth set.
A close battle throughout, Bledsoe pulled away in the end and won the final set by a score of 25-23 and ended Monterey’s season.
This final match echoed what had been a really close season in the entire district, as a mere three games are what separated the third-place team from Monterey at sixth.
“Everything was really close, it wasn’t like anyone really ran away with the district,” Head Coach Scott Bilbrey said. “Except for the top two teams, Van Buren and Coalfield, and they will be battling tomorrow in the District Tournament Championship.”
Despite the tough loss, Bilbrey believes it shouldn’t take away from how much the team improved. With a final record of 7-9, Bilbrey said he liked how much the team grew together the most amongst all the improvements.
“They developed really well, they learned how to play tighter as a team,” Bilbrey said. “In any sport, you have to work together as a team, and when one player was down, they picked them up … I was really glad to see that.”
The seniors played a major role in the team’s success, and according to Bilbrey, saying goodbye to Sydney Sparks was really difficult after all the years they had spent together.
“It was heartbreaking,” Bilbrey said. “I’ve been with Sydney for three years, and she’s played for me all three years. She’s a phenomenal person … she has the biggest heart and she cares about others. She’s going to go far in life.”
Even losing a leader like Sparks and his other seniors, Bilbrey said that the future remains bright for the Monterey Volleyball program.
“I really think it’s going to be even better next year,” Bilbrey said. “We’ve got some really good freshmen and sophomores, imagine what they’re going to be like in two years. We’re really looking forward to that down the road. We are excited about where we are going … we’re just taking it one day at a time.”
