No one can accuse Lady Bulldog head volleyball coach Allie Crommett of playing a weak non-district schedule. Nederland scheduled themselves into the highly competitive Pearland "John Turner Classic" and Dickinson tournaments where they ended up going 0-6.
A silver lining with scheduling early tough matches is you can tell exactly where you are as a team. Athletically how you compare and how you work with adversity.
"Our district is pretty stacked with Barbers Hill and PNG," said Crommett.
"We like to schedule tough competition early, there's a good chance we'll see these same types of teams come playoff time. We want to set our team up for success and see early on where our strengths and weaknesses are."
The core group of talent heading into district competition will be Karley McGill (2020, RS, 2nd Team All-District), Jenna Brekel (2020, Def), and Hanna Hickey (2020, MB, 2nd Team All-District). The "group of three" will be called upon to replace the matriculation of five seniors lost from last years squad.
"Offensively Hickey and McGill will help us a ton, these are two all-district players that be our go-to's and will help bring along the younger ones. Defensively Jenna is our only returner with experience, she will be looked at to bring our players under her wing."
The Lady Bulldogs bring back nine varsity players from a team that finished third in District 21-5A, the question remains how close are they to a district title and a #1 seed going into the playoffs.
"We have all the pieces that we need to be really good," said Crommett.
"Everyone wants a district title. We're doing all the work we need to do, it's just a matter on can we peak at the right time."
The defining matches for the Lady Bulldogs will be home contests versus PNG September 24 and their "Pink Out" game against Barbers Hill October 11.
VYPE SETX PODCAST: Nederland VB Coach Allie Crommett