It’s year three for the Lady Wildcats volleyball program as popularity in the sport is picking up steam around Louisville High School.
Drew Smith has taken over as the head coach after spending the last two seasons as an assistant and the Wildcat alum is excited about the progress made over the last three years.
“We’ve been practicing about two or three times a week and we’re getting better. We’re looking to be competitive this year after just learning the sport the last two years,” Smith said. “I’ve got about three or four that are on the team now that were there the first year and they’ve made strides. They’ve picked up on the game really fast and embraced it. Volleyball is not a really known sport around here and they’ve really worked hard.”
Smith said he’s counting on junior Nakiah Hogan to be the leader of the pack this season after spending the last three years in the lineup. He called Hogan “a volleyball player through and through who is dependable and smart.” Brianna Boyd and Amaria Pruitt are returning this season and players that Smith will rely on as is newcomer Aeriel Hoskins who transferred in from North Carolina and has been one of the standouts in practice.
Louisville will play in a district with Lanier, Yazoo City and Kosciusko and play all of the Winston county schools in this year’s schedule including Winston Academy. The season started for Louisville on Tuesday against Noxapater on the road and they’ll play Winston on Thursday at home.
