A new era of East Webster volleyball is underway.
The Lady Wolverine program is fairly new, but it’s now under new leadership for the first time since its opening season in 2020. Dallas McCracken retired last season after three years of growth within the EWHS volleyball program. Now, a new face is leading the charge in the form of Kaylie Banks.
Having been involved with volleyball as a player and coach for over a decade, Banks is bringing a wealth of experience. She played volleyball from fourth grade through her high school career inside the state of Tennessee and played club volleyball as well. After being placed at EWHS as a student teacher and getting an opportunity to help with the volleyball team a couple of years ago, she returned to Mississippi State to get her master’s degree and she worked with MSU Athletics working with academics.
Since that time, she was hired at EWHS to teach ninth grade English and she’s getting ready to start her coaching career next week.
“With a lot of experience, I’ve been able to coach in high level situations. I coached a very storied club in Tennessee and had a lot of great mentors,” Banks said. “I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of coaching. In volleyball, fundamentals are really important and it’s such a team sport. I know how those athletes need to trust each other on the court so I’m bringing that side of things. I really want to build that and encourage the young ones in Webster County to make our program super competitive.”
The Lady Wolverines had the best season in school history last season, albeit it was just year three. EWHS finished 16-10 with the first playoff win ever. The record has improved each season as well with a winning record in all three years and three playoff appearances.
Success has always been there from the start for the Lady Wolverines and they’re returning a whole lot of production from last year’s squad.
“I’ve got a really good group of seniors that I was lucky to work with as a student teacher. We have Carmen Johnson who has a massive swing and Jalyn Brock and Isabel Baxter have been great in the middle,” Banks said. “Madeline Warn has been so consistent in her encouragement and leadership. We have a big team this year and I took a lot of girls because I want to build this program. My seniors and juniors have really stepped up.”
The season begins for Banks and company on Saturday with a tournament Classic at Pontotoc as they’ll take on the host Pontotoc and Itawamba AHS. The first match of the year will be on Tuesday at West Point at 6 p.m. and EWHS will host its home opener Thursday against Potts Camp at 6 p.m.
For Banks, she can hardly wait to get this opportunity to lead the program to new heights.
“I am absolutely thrilled with the group that I get to come in and start with,” Banks said. “East Webster is full of athletes and so many girls play so many different sports. That wasn’t really an option for me in high school to play multiple sports so having girls that are multi-sport athletes and they’ve been really competitive has been a joy.”
