Latest / Huddle Up! / Huddle Up! Season 1, Episode 9

Transcript

Huddle Up! Season 1, Episode 9 · Huddle Up!

• Paul Durham: Hello and welcome to Huddle Up the Wilson Times Sports Podcast. This is Paul Durham. You are here for episode nine of season one. And man, we've got a blockbuster episode this week. We got a lot of stuff going on in the first week of October. First and foremost is the Wilson County Cross Country Championships. They're going to be held Monday afternoon at Wilson Christian Academy. And then we've got a big week of Hunt-Fike games. Obviously, Hunt-Fike volleyball on Thursday that will probably settle the 5A, 6A Big East Conference So we're gonna look at both of those. But first of all, with us is head coach Rusty Boyette, the hunt high running coach. He's gonna tell us a little bit about the county meet, and then we're gonna visit with the volleyball coaches. Krista Barbrey at Fike and Matt Lemmons at Hunt and a couple of their players, Elle Mariani and Bailee Barbrey from Fike, and Allison Wilson and Makenzie Collins from Hunt. But first, let's talk to Coach Boyette. We have the Wilson County Championships coming, and the Hunt High Warriors and Lady Warriors are defending champs. And coach, tell me a little bit about this year's county championship that's going to be at Wilson Christian. What schools are participating because you are the meet director. And and then let's talk a little bit about what to expect from the runners. Rusty Boyette: thank you for having me. Yes. the county championship is tomorrow afternoon. Currently all the schools in the county are expected to be there. That is Hunt, Fike and Beddingfield on the public schools, as well as Sally B. Howard, Greenfield, Community Christian, and Wilson Prep. so it's gonna be a a very large and very strong showing from the county this year. Paul Durham: Wow, so we're gonna have everybody there, every school is gonna have a representative there. Rusty Boyette: yes, sir. As as far as the entries go, everybody has entered, has athletes entered from all the schools. So it should be a very good representation of the distance running in Wilson County this year. Paul Durham: Awesome. That's got me pretty excited because there's usually somebody who doesn't have a team or didn't get there or had a conference invite or something that they had to do. So that's going to be awesome to see all the schools there. All right. So tell me what can you say? I mean, I guess you know about your teams so far running through Big East competition. you've run against Fike every week, so you know a little bit about Fike. What do you know about the other schools based on your general knowledge as a cross-country coach in Wilson County, Bettingfield? Wilson Christian, which has had a really good program in the past, if you guys are to repeat on the girls and boys side, who are you gonna have to get past? Rusty Boyette: yes. So currently there's about sixty guys scheduled to run and around forty-five girls scheduled to run. So it's a pretty good size field in both races. on the boys side, my team is the hunt team is is pretty young. we only have two seniors this year. We lost quite a bit of of athletes from graduating last year. I believe I only had four returners on the guy's side this year, but my freshman guys and just some new runners to the program have really stepped up and have been producing pretty strong times. this year, Landon Johnson is my top runner. he's running around the eighteen thirties. right now, pretty consistently. And then Jake Mauze who's my team captain, he's one of my two seniors. He's running right around the 19 minute flat mark. So they should be up in the top five for the race. I know Wilson Prep has Aaron Hicks, he has been pretty strong from the few results I've been able to see. as well as Caleb Paul Durham: Galen. Rusty Boyette: G Gillen. Yes, Caleb Gillen from a Wilson Christian has also produced some pretty fast times. And so the top spot is I think is going to come down to a a three way race between Hicks, Gillen and Johnson from the three different schools. so but as the team scores I believe it'll be between Hunt and Wilson Christian. It'll probably be the two top ones. but there is a lot of unknowns as well. Like you said, I've only seen Fike run this year so far in person. and I can look at results, but until you see them in person, you really don't know, you know, what the results really are telling you because you don't know how hard the course was, how hard the competition was. So it should be a very good race, but I have have confidence in my boy runners that they should, if everybody does what they're supposed to, we should be battling and should be in a very good spot to challenge and hopefully defend our county championship. Paul Durham: All right. Well, you've got and and we'll have two new county individual champions. Connor Ford, Wilson Christian was a two-time champion last year. He graduated. Brooklyn Thoms who's still at hunt, but Brooklyn is not running cross-country this year. She's pursuing other things, and she is not going to be there to defend her title. So somebody else will step into that role. I will remind at this point that the the meet record for the boys is Lin Scott in 2023 of 16 minutes, 24.61 seconds. I don't think that one's in danger this year. And of course, the girls meet record. Also, Erin Pope in 2023, 18 minutes 30 seconds, or 30.96 seconds. That one's probably not in danger this year. But there's a lot, I mean, somebody's gonna win. There's a lot of good candidates. I look forward to the boys' duel. I think Aaron, obviously his sister, Mireici Hicks also is probably in that mix, too. it it's Rusty Boyette: Yes. Paul Durham: There's a lot we don't know though. I I'm looking forward to seeing somebody emerge that we hadn't even heard of or I haven't heard of yet. Somebody's heard of Rusty Boyette: Yes, I yeah, I believe on the girls side, it I think it's gonna come down to either the sister Mireici hit Paul Durham: Mireici yes. Rusty Boyette: Mireici yeah, sorry, Mikayla Goines from Greenfield. there's also Kylie Petty from Wilson Christian and then Tamara Baines from Hunt. So Those should be you should see those four up at the top at the front tomorrow. yeah, so nobody should win by a mile. it should be a close race and everybody's gonna have to come out and do, you know, run their best tomorrow. it's no give me' tomorrow on the boys or girls side. Paul Durham: Well, one thing about it, no matter what happens tomorrow, it will end up in the archives that you have put together. And that's what else I wanted to talk to you about. You have painstakingly put together an exhaustive search of Wilson Times articles through the online archives, through newspaperarchive.com and and other sources to sort of put together a comprehensive record book starting with Hunt Running, but Tell me how much farther you've gone because it has been sort of a passion that you've sort of kept on building it. Rusty Boyette: yes. So it originally started as some of my runners asked me what's the school record in cross country or and then I'm also the track coach, what's the school record in any of the track events? And the online databases like milesplit only go back to twenty seventeen and then only the really big meets like state meets prior to that. So I started digging on a newspaper archive website. found some old scorebooks from certain meets. so slowly put together and it is a very, very painstakingly slow process. and the certain the way the the way that website works, you type in hunt running, even if you narrow it down to a couple months in a specific year, I still might get a hundred results. And out of those hundred results, only twelve of are the actual articles with the results in the paper. so it's a very slow process. so I Paul Durham: You are preaching to the choir right now now. And trust me on that. I know exactly how slow that process is. And that's why I have so much admiration for you for doing it, because it is it's taken up a lot of time and you have to have patience. Rusty Boyette: yes. and so that was the start of it. Well that then rolled into well, if I'm already looking up these articles, somebody else someday might want to look up. So then I started printing them out and started putting them in binders and everything so that the next generation or somebody after me the information is already there for so I started printing those out. So that's taking up a lot of time and space for For for just finding all the newspaper articles. So currently I have completed cross country. So I have every article that the paper has ever written about hunt cross country from the very first year all the way up to this season. Paul Durham: Wow. Rusty Boyette: track, I'm almost done. I've done I think I'm missing about eight years in the mid nineties that I'm still working on. the website went down for about six months. and also, you know how it is. I got sometimes I have to take breaks from staring at old newspaper articles in my spare time. but then when Hunt started doing the Hall of Fame and we were looking for potential candidates. And then once we found potential the Hall of Fame candidates, going back and trying to find some of their stats. So then I started working on trying to find newspaper articles about those specific individuals. and then that led into, well, let me just go ahead and start finding all the articles for say hunt football. And there's a very big difference in finding, you know, one article a week from the results from the cross country meet to hunt football. I believe the first year of hunt football, the newspaper wrote an article every single day from the first day of the season until the last day of the season. so there's quite a bit. I've done about six or seven years of football. I've done about twenty years of volleyball at hunt, about ten years of wrestling, about fifteen, twenty years of tennis. and then I've done some swimming. It you know I'll I'll kind of jump around just to So I don't it doesn't get repetitive as much. But then taking that a step further, because I am a glutton for punishment, I've also made a database or I'm in the process of making a database and also going through your books listing the rosters of every sports team at Hunt since the school started. Paul Durham: That's insane. You're gonna find every roster of every hunt team ever. That's that Rusty Boyette: Yes. Paul Durham: is truly an amazing quest, I can tell you that. Rusty Boyette: Yeah. now I was able to get a lot of it done just going back through old yearbooks. that helped a lot. Paul Durham: Right. Rusty Boyette: But but then we came into a problem that in the I believe it was most of the 80s, the yearbook had to be turned in the papers in to the yearbook company before spring sports started. So most Paul Durham: Yeah, there were never any spring sports. Rusty Boyette: yeah, so most of the spring sports in the 80s are not in yearbooks. So that requires me to go back to those newspaper articles and try to read through and and that's where it gets really time consuming because then you've got to read articles and just every time they mention a name put it in and then there's players and that never made it into the paper that were on the team. so I've reached out to some former athletes throughout as I go to try to get some information. I've had a couple of reach back and give me some information that wasn't included in the paper. Yeah, so I and I try to list all any awards or any any notes of interest throughout as well through each one of those rosters. that also when we were talking about when I was in meetings with the Hunt Booster Club and you know we were talking about advertising or raising money for projects, my thought was well, instead of asking, you know, random people for money for certain projects. Why don't we reach out to former hunt athletes that played that sport that we're trying to raise money for and ask them if they'd be interested in in donating some money. At least they have a vested interest in that particular sport. so that's where that kind that part came in as well. So it's like a three pronged project that's probably going to take me another decade to finish. my goal is to have it finished before I retire. Paul Durham: I was about to say you probably have a pretty good retirement career set up for yourself. You could consult you know you should do Hunt. I know it's gonna be dependent on what kind of coverage you can find in the paper, and Hunt's had pretty good coverage, I would say, as one of the Wilson schools over the years, but you could probably do it for other schools for a fee, right? Rusty Boyette: yeah, yeah, that might that might be my retirement plan. charge. Paul Durham: Well I'll give you a I'll give you a pro tip. When you're searching for cross country stories in the seventies, maybe even into the eighties, you could just type in thin clads or thin cladsmen, and then you will really narrow your search down because I think that was Rusty Boyette: Yeah. Yeah. And Paul Durham: a term used often by Tom Hamm in the seventies and throughout the whole Wilson Town sports Rusty Boyette: And I think the Paul Durham: staff. Rusty Boyette: I think the other term was Harriers. Yep. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, and see Paul Durham: Harriers, yes, correct. The Harriers and the Thinclads. Thinclads also referred to track athletes as well. Rusty Boyette: Yep. Yes. and then and then like printing out those articles. some of especially the older articles are not the papers that were scanned in weren't as good. So then I have to go in and try to edit the paper to make it a little bit brighter, a little bit easier to read. but yes, I have binders and binders and binders of different newspaper articles. My goal is to have an entire bookcase in the library. with everything by the time I'm done. So if somebody wants to know the stats because while I am doing all this, I am not looking up or keeping track of the home run record or, you know, the total yards in football. I'm just finding the articles. Somebody else after me can come and dig through their sport to find out those statistics. I did the statistics for cross country and track as the cross country and track coach, but I'll let other coaches do some research to figure and I'll provide the research and they can read through to figure out stats and records. Paul Durham: Well, you're doing the hard work, I can assure you that. So well listen, it's been great talking with you about this. I'd definitely like to see some more of that. And I do need to come out and actually look at the database of what you've done. But is it accessible to other people online? Could you I was wondering maybe you could make it and do it like a subscription where people want to go in and look at it, they could like newspaperarchive.com does for access to all of those Rusty Boyette: Not Paul Durham: newspapers. Rusty Boyette: not yet, but that is something that could happen after I've gotten a little bit more teams completed, figuring out a way to get it online. it's right now I have to like cut, if you will, like not really screenshot, but cut the article out, save the article, then open it. then print it out and I put it in a sleeve and then put it in a the binder. But there's a way there's probably a way down the road that I can get it all digitized and so other people could access it remotely. Paul Durham: Yeah, I think you should start teaching an archive, a digital archive class, and then you would have a whole room full of people to help you do stuff and the end project would be getting this done for the school. And then at some point, you know, in in nowadays there's so much video associated with team you could upload videos from certain games for hunt. But you're talking about a huge website that the school would have to pay for or do something that would make it pay for itself. But hey, down the road that's what kids will probably be doing in school when they're In the old days they used to work for the school newspaper. I don't think those are even around as much anymore. So you gotta be able to Rusty Boyette: Yeah. Paul Durham: move with the times and you're ahead of it. So Rusty Boyette: Well thank you. Thank you for that compliment. Paul Durham: Well listen, I appreciate coming on. I will see you on Monday. It's gonna be a big day of running. and then we're gonna head on into the rest of the season and regional and hopefully state meet. I know you got some guys and girls looking for a chance to get to the state meet. You guys qualified as a team last year, so hopefully that'll happen. But hey, as far as Monday, it's all about Wilson and that's why I love it. It's every kid in Wilson that likes to run is gonna be out there, so it's gonna be a big day. Rusty Boyette: Yes, it is. Paul Durham: Alright coach, we will talk to you soon. Rusty Boyette: Yes, sir. Thank you for having me. Paul Durham: Hello and welcome to the second half of Huddle Up this week. We have volleyball on tap because this is a huge week in the Big East Conference, the 5A6A Big East Conference, the final week of the regular season. There are some big matches, but none will probably be bigger than Hunt at Fike on Thursday. And right now, to talk about that, I have Fike head coach Krista Barbrey Along with freshman Elle Mariani and sophomore Bailee Barbrey to talk about the season, the week ahead, and that big match looming against Hunt on Thursday. So, coach, obviously this game is circled on the calendar on Thursday. But before we talk about Hunt, let's let's look at CBA COC. You have them on Tuesday. This is a huge week for you guys. What are your thoughts on on this week ahead for the Golden Demons? Because it's all come down to this. You guys are in first place. If you win your two matches, you're gonna become for champs. Krista: Yes. the girls know it's a big week coming up and they're ready. I think that the the loss to C.B. Aycock last time, I'm not sure that we were ready to play that day. but they know what they have to do. We've been studying, you know, both teams, what they're gonna bring to us. We've we know what to expect. Elle Mariani: Thank Krista: and the girls are excited where where we're at in the season and where they're at in the conference and they're they're willing to fight. Paul Durham: Well what do you think you need to do to beat C B Aycock and hunt? What are the main things that you guys need to really make sure you get done? Krista: the main thing is we just really have to run the offense. That's what that's what's gonna win volleyball games. Paul Durham: What the setup for Elle or Summer or Brylan or one of the front line players? Krista: Yeah, you have to utilize Elle Mariani: So. Krista: you have to utilize all of your options. You have to run every every offense you can. You have to spread it out amongst everybody. of course, I'm sure the other teams are expecting Elle to attack every ball. but when you spread it out to others, it keeps them off balance and that's what we have to do. Paul Durham: Well, let me ask those the girls Bailee, tell me how do you feel we ta we spoke a few weeks ago, how do you feel about the way the team is playing now compared to a month ago when you guys were, you know, doing pretty good? Obviously you're doing just as good now. Is there anything better? Krista: I feel like from the beginning of the season we were a new team and we had a few new girls come in and ever since our first couple of games we have really come together and we're playing more together as a team. Paul Durham: So Elle, what do you think like when you guys the the sets that you guys have lost this year or when you're not performing up, what has been the problem for you guys? Elle Mariani: think the issue has been our defense then transition into offense because we could sometimes fall back on our heels or produce passes, but sometimes that causes us to struggle in our offense if we're not fully secure on defense. Paul Durham: Now I'm assuming that none of that was a problem the first time y'all won at Hunt a couple or few weeks ago. So what helped y'all beat Hunt the first time, Bailee? And what do you think could be different about this match? Krista: We we ran our office the way that we know how to and when we When we played Hunt, we came together as a team and we showed that we have good chemistry on the court and we spread the offense very well. Paul Durham: What do think might be different this time? Obviously you're playing at home. I don't know if that gave you an edge to be on the road and the underdog last time. You're kind of the favorite now, I would think. Krista: yeah, I think that we when we went to hunt there was a lot of hype around the game. And this this time we're gonna play at home so there'll be even more hype and we'll have our student section there and our fans and it's just like it's more you want to win at home. Paul Durham: you absolutely do. I think that's gonna be nuts because that crowd at hunt was bigger. Fike's got a smaller gym. and this one's really for all the marbles. well, it should be all the marbles. If you guys get to pass C.B. Aycock and hunt beats Rocky Mount, winner of this game is gonna be Conference Champion. Now, what's it been like playing in this conference with tough matches every week, upsets waiting to happen? I mean, this has been one of the wildest volleyball seasons I can remember. There are literally five teams that are are good enough to be anybody every week in this conference. And that's for both of y'all starting with Elle, what's it been like for you playing in this conference? Elle Mariani: It's been really exciting but also competitive, which means like our team goes into the week expecting to play our best and we have to play our best to win any of the games because they could go any way as we've seen. Paul Durham: Yeah, there's no there's no days off. What about you, Bailee? What do you think about playing in this conference this this year? Krista: This this conference a hard is a is a hard conference and every day is a hard game for us because we're getting every single team's best game and we cannot take a day off. Paul Durham: Well, I've gotta ask Elle this is you're one of a handful of freshmen to come in in this conference this year, and and make a big splash. Hunt Sky, Alli Wilson, Southern Nash has Piper Pearson. There's there's several freshmen even at Fike as well. this is your first season of high school volleyball. has it met or sub or surpassed your expectations coming in from middle school? Elle Mariani: It's definitely surpassed my expectations personally. I didn't realize how much fun I was gonna have with all my new teammates and everything, let alone us winning so many games that obviously contribute to the fun, but I've really developed some good relationships on the team and it's really just been exciting. Paul Durham: Well, there was a lot of excitement as I recall at the h at the middle school level between Springfield and Elm City, obviously there was you guys have been playing in front of full gyms for a while, so that hasn't changed so much. But what's been your biggest challenge as a freshman volleyball player? Elle Mariani: My biggest challenge has probably been able to distinguish school and volleyball because school is a priority first. So I just have to make sure before I can watch film or play in those games I have all my school done. But also something is limiting the distractions. So our team has really, really good chemistry and they can help me with that. And it's just been really helpful and fun. Paul Durham: Well, Bailee, let me ask you this because y Elle, you bring up a good point with volleyball. I think every sport relies on chemistry and teamwork and and having a good culture in the clubhouse. But volleyball is one of those sports that chemistry really does matter because you often have to make decisions on the court without even being conscious of them. They're sort of instinctive, reflexive based on the chemistry that you develop with your teammates. What's it been like for you with this team, Bailee, as far as chemistry? Because Most of y'all were not playing varsity. Y'all weren't on the same team last year. You came up from JV, Brylan came in, Elle's a freshman. There's a lot of new pieces that have to work together. What's that chemistry been like for y'all? Krista: Yes, we come together as one. We aren't we we don't play for ourselves. We play for the team and we play for Fike High School. And we also build good relationships off the court too. So I think that helps because I'm friends with all the girls on on our team. We all like when we see each other, we always talk like it's not we're friends on the court. We're friends in life. Like we're always friends. Elle Mariani: Okay. Paul Durham: So you guys don't just check in with each other at practice every day. You like keep up with each other throughout the day and everything's going on. You know exactly what's happening with each other. That's a good relationship to have with your teammates. Krista: Yes. Elle Mariani: Yeah. Paul Durham: Well, that explains a lot about your success. Obviously, winning makes that a lot easier, and you guys have been doing that. this last Elle Mariani: them. Paul Durham: question is back for Coach Barbrey The fun really is just starting this week because and I gotta ask are you guys are playing the conference tournament, correct? Krista: Yes, our conference tournament should be the week of the twelfth. Paul Durham: Right. So you got that next week. and then state playoffs coming. So this is really week kind of kicks off the last week of the regular season for the Conference Championship. As we all know, conference titles don't mean anything more than a lot of pride that and that's saying a lot. But the RPI is really what matters when it comes to the playoffs. But I don't think there's anybody on either team that doesn't want to win a conference championship at this point. Now, in your first season as a high school head coach of fight, because you came up from Elm City middle. the last few years. How are you preparing for this next month? Because there's a lot more to high school volleyball, especially in the postseason than there was in middle school. Krista: Yeah, we're we're just taking it one game at a time. So our main focus, you know, when we get back together tomorrow in the gym is gonna be CB Aycock We're not gonna worry about hunt until Wednesday. We've gotta make it past Aycock And that's pretty much been our game plan all season. Like we we watch film, we look at, you know, games, we look at the team, we look at what they've changed, what we can change to make us stronger, you know, where we need to be quicker, where we need to be be at. receiving things like that. so that's how we're that's how we're gonna go into this week in the postseason is one game at a time. Paul Durham: All right. Well that's a good way to do it. And it's definitely got to be one game at a time because you have a big one on Tuesday and and no matter what happens Tuesday, Thursday is going to be huge regardless. So Hunt-Fike always Krista: Yeah, it will. Paul Durham: is. I look forward to seeing you guys. Thank Elle Mariani: . Paul Durham: you so much for coming in, Elle and Bailee and Coach Barbrey You guys have a great week and we'll see you sometime on later in the week for sure. Krista: Okay, sounds good. Thank you. Elle Mariani: Thank you. Paul Durham: All right, we are here with Hunt High volleyball coach Matt Lemmons and Makenzie Collins and Allison Wilson from the Warriors, and we're here to talk about this big week of Big East volleyball, including the big match at Fike on Thursday. I know you guys are so excited about it. but it's a lot more exciting than it possibly could have been after last week for you guys. So Coach Lemmons, I gotta get off right off the bat, just ask you, you guys were in the driver's seat last week, which is probably not the best place to be in this conference, because everybody's coming for you, but you loss to Northern Nash, Southern Nash. Now you guys are facing a must win. What happened for you guys in those two losses last week? Matt: Well, against Southern Nash, we really didn't play bad. We just didn't finish sets very well. now, Northern Nash, I'm not gonna lie, it was not good. It was not pretty. We had a bad game. But I'm looking forward to seeing how the girls bounce back. I mean if we can bounce back and have a big big week this week, then hey, all's okay. Paul Durham: Well, this is a topsy turvy conference, so it's bound to happen at some point that someone would catch you. But obviously that's the thing, you really I mean, with the exception of Southern Wayne, because let's be honest, they haven't won a game. you guys, you know, every week, even against Rocky Mount, and that leads into my next thing, you don't want look past them. obviously, but you know, it's hard to not think about alli wilson: Thank Paul Durham: Fike later on this week because that one probably will be for all the marbles. Well, let me tell let me hear your thoughts on this. Crazy last week of the regular season in the Big East. Matt: You know, I I told Tom Ham a long time ago that I would not be surprised if a two or three loss team wins the conference this year because I thought the first five teams, any given day, anybody could be beat, especially if you're not on your Ps and Q's that day. But it's it's really shaping up that way because depending on what happens Tuesday, which hopefully we beats Rocky Mount, we beat Rocky Mount. But if Fike Drops one to C B Acock, I think both first place teams have three losses, then you have at least two teams with four losses and I can never remember that happening in a conference. Not since I've been Paul Durham: No, it's Matt: coaching. Paul Durham: I think you're right. I don't think it's happened. I can't remember it. And I mean, and that's like you said, if Fike gets past C BA, they didn't get past them the first time, so that's a big deal. They've only loss twice and one was against C.B. Aycock So they've got a big week ahead of them as well. Obviously you're playing Rocky Mount. That's a tough one. Makenzie, let me ask you this. We spoke, I guess, a few weeks ago before the first Hunt-Fike game at Hunt. How do you feel about the way the team's playing now compared to a month ago, even taking into consideration those two losses last week? Makenzie: After Fike, we took that loss, but we were still together as a team. We were still doing good. We have had a but I think we're still a very competitive team and are very capable of still coming out on top. Paul Durham: absolutely. You guys were in first place for a long time and still are only a winner away. alli wilson: you Paul Durham: Now what's gotten better about the team that in your eyes since then, McKenzie? Makenzie: think we've done a good job of spreading the ball out more. I think that a lot more people are taking bigger swings and I think that's good for the team. I think a lot of people have stepped it up and been very aggressive here recently so I think that's helped us. We've just got to find out a way to bring it together as one big piece instead of having small pieces that aren't connected yet. Paul Durham: Allie, what happened when you guys played fight the first time? And then what do you think could be different about this match? alli wilson: I don't think we played our best like when we played FIKE. I think that we made some mistakes and gave them a little bit of momentum. But I think now we know what to expect. And if we just stay aggressive and communicate, I think it'll be a completely different match. Paul Durham: Well, let me ask you this, Allie. Do you think it'll be different? I mean, obviously it'll be different playing them at Fike as opposed to being at home, but do you think you can get maybe an advantage from being on the road coming in as the underdog, whereas at home last time you kinda were the favorite? alli wilson: Yeah, I think definitely that it'll just give us more like momentum and more like want to try and like just really like come together. Paul Durham: It definitely creates a different feeling going over there with a little payback in mind. Coach Lemmons, that Makenzie: you Paul Durham: obviously it's a little different situation against Fike this time because as you said, you guys are the so called underdog and you're going on the road. Now, what did you learn without giving away your game plan for Thursday? what did you learn in that last game that'll help you prepare for Fike this time? Because that's the first time you've seen some of their players, really. Matt: Well, we knew that Elle was going to be good. And she she made a good presence blocking. I mean, she's got a very strong arm, but one thing that I thought was the catalyst for Fike last game was their libero played an incredible game. I mean, we were hitting some really, really good balls and she was getting up everything. Now that's a whenever your defense is getting balls up like that, I mean, that's a big momentum boost for your entire team. And it also gets frustrating for us. We're like, holy smokes, how many how many good down balls are we gonna hit before before one hits the floor? And I mean, I really give kudos to their defense that game because I think they frustrated our hitters. I mean, I don't think we really lost the game at the net. It's just they had more balls hit the floor than we did. Paul Durham: Well, let me ask the girls, both of you girls can answer this question, because this is a volleyball question. When you're out there playing, because I've never played competitive volleyball, and so I'm I'm asking from a point of not knowing at all. When you're playing and the ball's moving that fast, do you really have time to think or think reflexively, or is it just instinct, or is it just preparation because you're watching their film or watching their players and picking up on tendencies? How much of it is that as opposed to just sheer reflexive instincts? And e either one of you can McKenzie, you can answer first if you want. alli wilson: Okay. Makenzie: Going into Fike I was prepared. I knew I was gonna have a big block in front of me So I think for me it's knowing what they had and a lot of it is just like Instinct for me because I do play club volleyball too. So I know what I have to do So I think that's a lot a big part of it, Paul Durham: Allie, what do you think about that? Do you pick up on general tendencies of your opponent or are you just trying to just make the best play you can, you know, on each ball? alli wilson: I feel like I kind of take it play by play and me as a right side I didn't have as big as a block but I still had a big block that I had to get around and I feel like their defense was getting up good balls so I feel like I should I was just being smart with the ball. Paul Durham: I gotcha. So Makenzie tell me this. What's it been like playing in this conference with tough matches every week, upsets waiting to happen? We talked about this is your junior year. You played last year in this league. It's a lot tougher, I think, top to bottom this year. You were in a different conference as a freshman in the Quad County, which was very tough for different reasons with those Johnston County schools. But what's it been like playing in this one? Because as we just talked about, it's rare that it goes this deep with quality teams. Makenzie: It's been challenging, but it's been fun. think I personally, I like playing tougher teams because it brings out more of a want in me to want to win, especially like the tighter sets, tighter matches. So I think I enjoy playing in this conference because there's a lot of teams who can come out on top. I think we are one of them. So I'm glad that it's a very competitive conference that we're a part of. Paul Durham: Well, you guys are a big part of the reason that it's competitive. Allie, one last question for you. And I asked Elle Mariani this earlier when I talked to Fike players, as you know, you're one of a handful of freshmen to make a big splash in Big East this year. It's sort of a carryover from last year when you guys were at Springfield and Elm City and a lot of excitement surrounding those games, which is probably gonna take it to a different level on Thursday. But has this season met or surpassed your expectations coming in as a middle schooler? alli wilson: I feel like this season's definitely surpassed my expectations. I didn't really know like how much I would play or what my role would be and I just wanted to work hard and like prove that I could compete with the varsity team as a freshman. Paul Durham: What's been your biggest challenge? alli wilson: I think my biggest challenge has been like learning to play with a new group of girls and like building connections with like with all of them in like such a short amount of time. Paul Durham: All right. Well last question for Coach Lemmons. This is a big this is the beginning of it all really. you got the last week of the regular season. You're gonna decide RPI seeding, you're gonna decide a conference champion, who gets to carry home the trophy. You got the conference tournament next week, and then you got state playoffs. What are your thoughts as you get ready to make this long, hopefully long downhill run for you guys because this is what you've all been building towards all those hot workouts and August matches and September now you're you're right on the precipice. Matt: Well, I mean, even going into Thursday, going into the conference tournament, the state tournament, I don't want my girls to ever think of themselves as an underdog. I mean, we are a good quality team. We have a lot of pieces. We have a lot of strong arms. We have girls that can pass. Our biggest thing is are we going to stay unified as a team and are we going to limit the are we going to limit the basic errors? Are we going to limit the serving errors? Are we gonna limit the balls that have no chance of being in? Are we gonna make smart decisions at the net? Are we gonna cover defensively? Are we gonna do all the basic things right that makes us a really good team? And I I I really believe we can. We just have to stay focused. And they just have to remember point in every single game now, you're facing a quality opponent. So you gotta be ready to go. Paul Durham: Absolutely. This has been a super exciting volleyball season. I feel like the best is yet to come. And this week is gonna do a lot to determine some of that, but as I said, it's far from over. So listen, thank thanks to you, Coach Lemmons. Thank you, Allie, and thank you, McKenzie, for joining me this time. Hopefully we'll get to talk to you girls again before the end of the season because like I said, it's there's a lot of volleyball left to be played. Makenzie: Thank you. alli wilson: Thank you so much.