Netters have big plans for the season

The Lady Dogie Volleyball team is coming off a pretty successful 2021 season, having advanced to the 3A State Tournament for the first time in seven years. With new head coach Mickey Crabtree at the helm, and six returning starters ready to grace the court, the team is looking to not only return to the Big Dance, but to put a banner on the wall for the first time in NHS history.
“We had a little stage fright last year at state, but we’re coming back with experience and a lot of talent and determination this year,” Crabtree declared. “Our goals are to put a banner on the wall of the Dogie Dome, and on being one as a team — whether you’re a freshman or a senior.”
Numbers are good for the Lady Dogies, with 34 players out this season. As such, the coaching staff of Crabtree and Jenny Pederson has grown to three with the addition of Candi Stanton as the freshmen coach. 
“We have nice numbers with 15 freshmen,” Crabtree said. “There are 10 seniors this year with six of those being returning starters from last year’s team, and we only lost two seniors in libero LaKacee Lipp and Olivia McVay.” 
With a large senior class, and just a few juniors and sophomores, a few from the freshmen crew may be expected to step up into 3A competition sooner rather than later. 
“We have a really good group of girls who have quite a bit of talent,” Crabtree reported. “Last week we really focused on getting work ethic, hustling and fundamentals down, and they all worked really hard, so that was great to see.”
After running a 6-2 offense last season — two setters playing from the back row — Crabtree plans to start off running a 5-1 offense with Hunter McFarland as the sole setter playing all the way around the court. Crabtree is also looking at Gabby McVay or Shelby Tidyman to replace Lipp as libero. 
“Hunter has a good blocking game, so it’ll be great to have her blocking their strong side hitter when she’s in the front row,” Crabtree said. “I know she likes to hit, but pretty much every girl on the court has nice hands so I’m sure she’ll still have her opportunities to do so.”
Looking around the 3A East conference, Crabtree admitted that she doesn’t have a lot of knowledge about those programs. Her focus is on building the mindset and the winning attitude necessary for the Lady Dogies to take on any and all teams they face across the net.
Returning starters include seniors Tiernan Stanton, Jaylen Ostenson, MacKenzie Conzelman, Shelby Tidyman, Gabby McVay and Hunter McFarland. Junior McKenzie Rose is also returning as a player who saw a great deal of action last year. 
“We’re getting a shirt made that will have our motto,” Crabtree began. “It will say ‘Change, Commit, Compete,’ which means that we will commit to all the changes we are making this season, and we will compete every time we step on the floor.”
Crabtree noted that a big focus for the team this year is self-discipline and admits that a lot of changes have been made. The players are adjusting to those changes as well as to Crabtree and her coaching style. Pederson and Stanton are adjusting as well with the ultimate goal of all levels being on the same page. 
“Self-discipline is so important in a sport like volleyball because the players are on their own out there on the court,” Crabtree stressed. “Coaching plays a part of the game after the fact, but the girls on the court have to be the ones to make the split-second decisions. The game can flip on a dime so that a team that is dominating a contest can end up losing.”
Crabtree and her team have big goals for the season, and the first-year head coach is determined to do everything she can to get them there.
“The seniors are so level-headed, and they are competitors, and that’s just so exciting,” Crabtree began. “I get to thinking about how much potential they have and how far I want to take them, and I get emotional.”
“It’s great to have such a good group for my first year coaching, because they are a coach’s dream,” she continued with a grin. “They know exactly what they need to do, they know their roles, and they know the common goal. They are all taking a leadership role and have been setting good examples for the underclassmen as well.” 
The Lady Dogies will start the season off with the annual Douglas Invitational Tournament for the varsity and JV on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 26 and 27. The freshmen will get started on Saturday the 27th with the Newcastle Invitational.