By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
There are plenty of new wrinkles with this year’s Cabot volleyball team. The sophomore-heavy roster and a new head coach are ready to test themselves in a game on their brand new state-of-the-art gymnasium.
New coach DeAnna Campbell brings nine years of coaching experience to the Lady Panthers program. She became only the second head volleyball coach in Cabot history when Terry Williams stepped down afte more than three decades on the job. That experience will be needed with a group of primarily underclassmen.
Campbell will have some leadership on the court with three seniors, including Kori Malloy, one of only two players returning with any varsity game time. Malloy and junior Brylee Staten are the only experienced players, but Campbell also expects junior Sam Mantione to be a contributor. Sophomores will also get in on the starting action, most notably Lakin Best and Hannah Montgomery, who Campbell believes will be a key setter for the Lady Panthers.
“We’ve got a lot of new,” Campbell said. “New and progress have been the key words for us. I’m guessing they had a lot of their players graduate last year, because there’s not many seniors with this group.
“It’s a first for me, and a first for the kids, but they’ve done a fantastic job so far. The main area we’re going to focus on is learning from game experience.”
Campbell got her start in coaching with a successful two-year run at Central Arkansas Christian a decade ago.
Through the 2001-02 seasons, Campbell led the Lady Mustangs to a 39-5 record, a conference championship and a quarterfinals appearance in the 2002 state volleyball tournament.
She also has coaching experience in the college ranks from her time at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, and is married to Lonoke senior boys basketball coach Dean Campbell.
Campbell replaces longtime coach Terry Williams, who took over the volleyball program at its inception in 1977.
“Coach Williams did a great job of walking me through everything before she left,” Campbell said. “It made for a smooth transition.”
The Lady Panthers have spent considerable time going over rotations and floor coverage for game situations as Tuesday’s tri-match with Lonoke and Morrilton quickly approaches.
“We’re ready to start playing for real,” Campbell said. “We want to see how the kids play all the way through a match – if they can maintain a high level of play. That’s the test, to get them all together.” A handful of Campbell’s players were already familiar with their new coach from having her as a teacher last year at Cabot High School, which has also aided in the adjustment process.
While the number of juniors and seniors is relatively low, sophomores fill in the gaps nicely with 11 players on the roster.
“I think one of the advantages of our lineup is that we have youth,” Campbell said. “It’s a whole new beginning for all of us. There’s a lot of sophomores.
Still, things aren’t that much different for the juniors – they were only in here for a year. There hasn’t been a lot of ‘well, we really haven’t done that before.’”
