Oak Ridge High School Junior Varsity Coach Audrey Sherles had a very successful first year with the Lady Wildcats Volleyball team. She coached them to a winning season in-district (record 13-1)! The Lady Wildcats had a busy season of weekend tournaments and three or four matches each week. The regular season ended Wednesday night with a convincing victory over Karnes High School.
The Lady Wildcats competed in the JV District Tournament at Central High School last night and beat Campbell County and Central, and ended in second place after 3 games against West (26-28, 25-10, and 9-15). Freshman setter Lily Shelton made the All-Tournament team!
Head Coach Dave Kolodney says, “congrats to the JV team on a wonderful season! Audrey and I are both so impressed by how much they improved throughout the year and the fight they gave last night. Although they fell just short, it was a great effort by a great team!”
Head Coach Dave Kolodney is excited to have Audrey in the program! “She brings years of experience as both a player and a coach and stepped right into the role and has excelled at it. This was a homecoming for Audrey both back to the Knoxville area after being a way for school and work, as well as, and more importantly, back to Oak Ridge High School. A dominant player while she was here, Audrey was excited to return to her alma mater as a coach. We’re looking forward to having her as part of our program for years to come.”
Coach Audrey Sherles commented on her first season. “The Lady Wildcats JV team started off the season strong, showing great improvement in a very short amount of time and setting the tone for being the forefront of district competition. We had a few returners stepping up to lead the team: MB Vivian Newton, OHs Haley Gray and Riya Sheth, and OPP Sophie Waraska. They have given a lot of energy and personality in leading the newcomers to a winning district record so far and also helped acclimate me as their new coach. They bring strength and experience to our offensive game. Two freshman have also stepped up in their respective positions to make a huge impact in our success so far. Lily Shelton has lead the court as our 6 rotation setter with amazing court awareness and discipline heading into her first year at the high school level. DS Marissa Kenworthy has also served as a solid freshman back row defender and serve receive leader while stepping up to fill varsity positions as needed as well.
I look forward to a strong season ahead with hopes to win the JV District championship title while developing young women along the way! Many thanks to all at ORHS that have made my transition to the coaching staff seamless and exciting.
The most memorable moment(s) of the season so far are any match we take to 3 sets. It’s awesome to watch the girls compete and get energized into a third set to win a match. It’s a different type of energy and competitive spirit to see them come together without me having to say much. We’ve taken several matches to 3 this year, all of them being high energy and fun to coach.
Our captains this year are Haley Gray and Vivian Newton. They were chosen because of their discipline and desire to work hard from day 1. They always lead the team during practice to keep them on the right track when the girls get sidetracked, and I trust them to do the same on the court. They bring experience and leadership that’s hard to find!
For next year, I think we need to work on our strength in our offense and confidence. Many of the matches we lose are losses we give to ourselves mentally and have a tough time keeping that confidence up when we start to make mistakes."
She enjoys working with Coach Dave "because we are able to communicate well during matches and have similar personalities which helps make things fun! We challenge the girls in the same way and are able to bounce ideas off of each other for a winning season. I’m really learning the ins and outs of running a high school program as he does this very efficiently. He manages the behind the scenes really well and it makes for a very smooth season where the girls can focus on playing and having fun!”
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