The 2025 Lady Generals Volleyball season was one of transition. Long time head coach, Sandy Creech, stepped down as head varsity coach for newcomer, Alberto Mijarez. Coach Alberto comes to our program with 12 years of coaching experience in the Chicagoland area, along with 8+ years of playing at the high school and adult club level.
The Lady Generals came into the season with no seniors on the roster, as varsity was composed of 4 juniors and 4 sophomores to start the season. Returning juniors Kylie Moore, Amber Smith & Kenzie Hobbs lead the team with experience, as Hadassah Newman, Kara Harris & Clara Tincher return to the squad. Newcomers to the team were Sadie Turner & Baylee Berry. Freshmen Alexa Collins & Aaliyah Welch also finished the season contributing with playing time as the Lady Generals pushed hard into the postseason. Our JV team was a young team, as 7 of the 12 players on the roster were incoming freshmen.
Coach Alberto introduced and established a new system of play for both JV & Varsity, which was new to the players, but they did a great job of understanding and adapting to it throughout the season. While the team made positive strides, consistency was a challenge for the Lady Generals. The team had key wins at longtime rivals Clay County 3 sets to 1 in the first half of the season, as the Generals took the win in the Tigers home court. The exclamation point to the first half of district play was a win at North Laurel in a thrilling 5 set match, which the Lady Generals won in the deciding set 17-15. These 2 key wins gave the team a 4-0 record in district play and secured the #1 seed for the district tournament.
To finish off the season, the Lady Generals defeated OBI in the district semis at home and lost the championship match to North Laurel in a close match that ended 3-1 in favor of the Jaguars. In region play, the Lady Generals were beaten by Harlan County in the first round of the region playoffs, to end a season of ups and downs for the team.
“We are excited for what’s to come for the team. The girls responded well to a new system and style of play, but consistency and continued improvement during the offseason is going to be vital for us to continue to progress and improve on what we accomplished this year. Thank you to assistant coaches Sandy Creech & Mandy Turner for their support and help during the season, to the parents and fans who supported the team along the way. We will look for ways to get the girls to continue during the offseason with a potential local club travel team, camps and incorporating opportunities for the middle school girls to get involved early and make the jump into high school.” - Coach Alberto
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