It’s been a steady progression for Winston Academy on the volleyball court, but the Lady Patriots are becoming a program that teams do not want to face.
Candice Cefalu never played volleyball when she was an athlete at WA and she was learning just as her girls were when she took over the program three years ago. The team won a few games in year one, they won a few more last year and were more competitive against the good teams. Now, they’re starting to get over the hump as the game has been learned.
“I am pleasantly surprised. I lost two starters and one was a setter which is a big deal. I was stressed about that going into practice, but Julianna (Sims) has become our setter and she has done phenomenal. She’s worked really hard picking that up,” Cefalu said. “I’ve pulled up some hitters from younger grades to get them ready because I’m losing a setter and two hitters. We have a good situation going with a lot of good players.”
In the young season, the Lady Pats are 2-2 with a couple of big wins against Heritage Academy and East Webster and close losses to tough teams. Beyond the experience that has made the team better, Cefalu has been able to get more from her staff this year as they continue to grow in the game as well.
Bobby Ryals has been Cefalu’s assistant from the beginning but she just recently added her husband, Bubba, to the staff. Bubba has helped the team practice in the past but now has become more involved in the development and coaching.
“Bubba is running the offense this year and calling plays. We’ve found that it’s really good for the girls because instead of worrying, they’re looking to Bubba for what the next call is and moving on instead of getting hung up on what they did wrong. We got a more offensive game and Bobby (Ryals) and I have done nothing but defense. We’re focusing on offense and defense this year instead of just playing.”
The season tipped off with a bang as WA beat Heritage Academy for the first time ever in a 3-1 victory. Cefalu credited the serving of her players for that as three players had a serve percentage of 90% or higher, which means service errors were low and they were putting the ball in play.
Lindsey Krajewski had seven aces and six kills, Sims had four aces and Layton Nowell had two aces with eight kills.
The team followed that up with a competitive outing with Grace Christian. The Lady Eagles had never lost a set to the Lady Pats in the first two seasons but WA won the first set 25-19. It couldn’t find a way to take another set after that but the team took tremendous strides with competitive sets finishing with 17-25, 20-25 and 16-25 losses.
Sims finished with a 100% serving percentage and Nowell had five kills and four aces. Krajewski had four kills and Cefalu was impressed with junior high player Jillian Sims who was inserted for a set and had four kills.
In another loss against Pillow, Cefalu had her first real disappointment of the season. The junior varsity and junior high teams won in two-straight sets against the Lady Mustangs, and the high school took the first two sets 25-23 and 25-22.
They were unable to close it out, however, losing close on three-straight sets with scores of 23-25, 23-25 and 13-15. 18 service errors were the culprit.
Sophie Vanlandingham and Nowell finished with nine kills, Krajewski had seven kills, Julianna Sims had 11 assists, Laney Gregory had 10 assists and Jillian Sims had five kills. Despite the loss, Cefalu has been proud of her girls so far.
The Lady Pats got back on a winning track on Monday evening when they traveled to Cumberland for a matchup with EWHS. WA won the match 3-1 with 25-17, 18-25, 25-17 and 25-20 scores. Laney Gregory had 11 kills in the win and Nowell and Jillian Sims had five kills while Julianna Sims had five assists.
“Even the games that we’ve lost this year, we’ve looked phenomenal,” Cefalu said. “Any team that can play long rally points against a team like Grace Christian, that makes me proud. We’ve never won a set against Heritage in the two years I coached before and we came out and had their number. I think that reinforced to the girls that we can do this.”
The Lady Pats will be back in action on Saturday when they host the Winston County tournament as Louisville, Noxapater and Nanih Waiya are all expected to take part.
