Volleyball is in play next week
Clinton girls have lofty expectations for 2023
The 2023 Clinton High School Lady Dragons volleyballers are: McKinley Stanton, Ellie Hatmaker, McKenzie Crisp, Macy Wandell, Lanee Carmi- chael, Josie Moody, Ellie Murrell, Parker McGhee, Molly Boler, Abigail Phillips, Adriana Jaurez, Maya Reyes, Riley Owens, Tomi Taylor, Darbi Brummett, Kyleigh Gallaher, Zavie Ford, Kegan Skaggs, Makayla Wayne, Alyssa Gonzalez, Jallie Rodd and Hannah Harvey.
Clinton opens the 2023 regular season at home against Grace Christian Academy on Monday, Aug. 14, with the first serve for the varsity match slated for approximately 6:30 p.m.
The following night, the Lady Dragons open league play at Campbell County before returning home to face Karns in a league match on Aug. 17.
They then play in the Showdown at the Sunsphere on Aug. 18-19.
“We would like to be the first team in school history to win the district championship,” Johnson said. “We’ve won a regular-season championship, but we’ve never won the district tournament.
“I don’t know if it’s our year. It’s an odd (numbered) year, so if it’s our district’s year to host the region tournament, then we’d like to host the region tournament.”
Clinton finished third in last year’s district tournament, and narrowly missed the Region 2-AAA Tournament.
The Lady Dragons suffered their only league losses to Oak Ridge and Knoxville’s West High School. But their road to the regional perhaps got a little easier as the West Lady Rebels were moved to District 4-AAA by the TSSAA after spending the last several years in District 3.
“They took West away,” Johnson said. “But you have some teams with new coaches. Powell and Halls have changed coaches.”
Karns, Knoxville Central and Campbell County will also look to compete in the league, but Johnson has seen the Lady Dragons grow since she arrived at the high school after spending time at Clinton Middle School after a coaching tenure in Fountain City with the Lady Bobcats.
“I have four seniors who have been with me since I was at the middle school,” Johnson said. “And the juniors are playing pivotal roles. We have more depth than most teams.
“As a volleyball team, we have a higher volleyball IQ and we have depth that we haven’t had,” she said. “We have some club players and these girls have all worked hard. I’ve have nine freshmen, and I look for some of them to make contributions on the varsity. I have one listed on the varsity, but we could see more up there this year.”
Success on the volleyball court seems eminent for the Lady Dragons should they continue building upon the foundation laid over the previous two seasons. But the lessons learned have gone far beyond the hardwood.
“We have leadership, and the girls are strong morally and academically,” Johnson said. “They have high ambitions and high goals.”
Top returners for the Lady Dragons include: Darbi Brummett (senior, middle blocker/outside hitter); Zavie Ford (senior, defensive specialist); Riley Owens (senior, outside hitter/opposite player); Tomi Taylor (a senior setter/opposite player who missed the majority of the 2022 campaign due to injury); McKenzie Crisp (junior, libero/defensive specialist); Ellie Hatmaker (junior, defensive specialist/opposite player); Ellie Murrell (junior, middle blocker/opposite player); Keagan Skaggs (junior, setter/opposite player); Lanee Carmichael (sophomore, outside hitter/middle blocker) and Josie Moody (sophomore, setter/opposite player).
Key newcomers slated to start the season on the varsity squad are freshman Parker McGhee (middle blocker/outside hitter) and sophomore Kyleigh Gallaher (outside hitter/middle blocker/opposite player).