Westside Eagle-Observer

Volleyball season set to begin for Decatur

- By Mike Eckels meckels@nwadg.com

DECATUR — The successful 2015 volleyball season at Decatur High School has spurred an interest in the program, giving rise to a second team.

Over the summer break, the volleyball team practiced in the mornings to avoid the hot afternoon heat. In spite of this handicap, many of the girls from last year made every effort to make practice.

The team traveled to Branson, Mo., to participat­e in a volleyball training camp that yielded positive results for the up-and-coming Bulldog senior girls’ team.

“In the last week or so, we have really seen things come together,” said Jessi Castagna, Decatur volleyball coach. “We have a

big group from last year returning for this season.”

Decatur will return four seniors this season. Shaney Lee, one of the original student organizers, and Cameron Shaffer will take on the role as team co-captains. Their leadership, along with that of Taylor Hopkins and Isabel Rodriguez, is expected to make the Bulldog volleyball program a spectator’s delight.

“We moved Shaney Lee to the set positions to fill a hole when we lost one of our seniors last year,” Castagna said. “She is doing an awesome job in her new position.”

Along with the four seniors, the Decatur volleyball program returns three juniors from last year’s team, including Desi Meek, whose aggressive style helped to lead the team to several wins last season. Five sophomores will make up the remainder of the team.

One surprise for Castagna was the number of middle-school and freshmen students expressing an interest in the sport. This led Castagna and John Unger, Decatur’s athletic director, to form a junior-high team this season.

“We had a remarkable response to the volleyball program this summer,” said Castagna. “This surprised all of us. In the end, this will definitely help us bring up new players to replace those the team loses to graduation over the next few years.”

The Bulldogs will be playing in the 4A conference for the first time. The Bulldogs were ineligible in 2015 because of their first season. They will play area teams such as Gravette, Gentry and Shiloh Christian.

This poses a challenge for the Lady Bulldogs.

“Our biggest challenge will be Shiloh Christian. They had two players that made it into the college ranks,” said Castagna. “I think we will do all right once we get away from the big 4A schools like Gravette and Lincoln.”

The Decatur senior team will play its first home game against the Eureka Spring Highlander­s Aug. 25 at Peterson Gym in Decatur. The game starts at 4:30 p.m. For more informatio­n on the Decatur volleyball team, including the junior-high games, go to decatursd.com/ athletics.

 ?? Photo by Mike Eckels ?? Coral Frydrychow­ski (left) prepares to return an incoming ball during a late afternoon volleyball practice session at Peterson Gym in Decatur on Aug. 15. Frydrychow­ski, a photograph­er who was on the sidelines taking volleyball photos for the yearbook...
Photo by Mike Eckels Coral Frydrychow­ski (left) prepares to return an incoming ball during a late afternoon volleyball practice session at Peterson Gym in Decatur on Aug. 15. Frydrychow­ski, a photograph­er who was on the sidelines taking volleyball photos for the yearbook...
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