By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Greenville High School volleyball team hosted four other teams for a scrimmage the week before the regular season starts on August 13.

The Lady Wave hosted Mississinawa Valley, Tri-Village, Brookville and Bellefontaine for a round-robin scrimmage.

Greenville is coming off a 16-7 season with a 14-4 MVL record. They had some players cement themselves into the record books along with accomplishing some team records along the way.

Greenville head coach Michelle Hardesty said the team is still learning some things as they try to see what groups work best together and what rotations work.

“You’re not really playing with your core group all the time. You’re trying to figure out what that core group is. We’re asking them to play with different people beside them, learn each others tendencies. Scrimmaging is great, but you never get a full idea of what you’re going to be like going into the season,” Hardesty said.

The team is returning players like seniors Shyanne Gibboney and Brooke Schmidt along with junior Kindyl Peltz. All three made history last season with breaking school records.

But right now, the team is slowly getting into season form. Hardesty said the team is already getting over some illnesses and some early injuries.

This group is entering the season with some high expectations, but it’s going to take some time to reach that. It’s still the offseason and will have a whole season to show what they’re capable of.

“They’re going to get there. I see them talking, working together. We have high expectations for the team this year. I don’t think tonight was any indication of that high expectation. But, they hear what we’re talking to them about and put forth effort. It’s scrimmaging, that’s what it’s all about,” Hardesty said.

Mississinawa Valley finished last season 15-7 with a 9-3 WOAC record. They graduated three seniors from last year’s team.

The Lady Blackhawks won’t be the most deep team as they have eight players listed on the roster right now. Head coach Nancy Whitted said she was happy with how her team competed in the scrimmage.

“Definitely have some things we need to work on. But overall, I was happy with our small, little team. We’re small but mighty this year,” Whitted said. “I was pretty impressed today.”

The team does have some experience back with Makenna and Cora Hoggatt returning. With a new mix of players, the team has been working hard in practice building chemistry.

Whitted said she saw the improvements the team made in practice translate to a game setting while also seeing where they still need improvement at.

“A lot of hustle. A lot of good offense. They’ve really worked on that in practice. Our defense needs some work, but that’s something we’re working on in practice. That’s what I like about these scrimmages. We see what we need to fix and what we’re good at,” Whitted said.

Tri-Village finished last season 11-12 with a 7-4 WOAC record. The team lost five players from last year’s team and only have two seniors on the team.

Head coach Taylor Rawlings said the team is still building the chemistry with some of the new players and finding who plays best with who.

“We’re young this year. We lost a few seniors, lost a few to transferring. It’s finding that dynamic with a lot of girls coming from JV to varsity. Once we find that groove, I think we’ll be all right,” Rawlings said.

The Lady Patriots are improving throughout this offseason, but aren’t a finished product. Rawlings said the team is still trying to find some consistency.

“We got to go back to that consistency piece. Got to do the little things right, have that disciplined and they’ll be alright,” Rawlings said. “I see improvement from our first scrimmage. But I’m not pleased yet.”

The official start to the volleyball season is August 16.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].