Photo by Jay W. Bennett Parkersburg South senior Makenna Gibson prepares to spike the ball in a match last fall inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center as
head coach Becky Bennett looks on.

PARKERSBURG — A trip to the Class AAA regional tournament was where the Parkersburg South volleyball team had its 2019 campaign end as the Patriots of head coach Becky Bennett were just a match away from reaching the state tournament.

A new season begins in earnest at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday when the Patriots welcome in Morgantown to the Rod Oldham Athletic Center for a dual.

“Pretty good,” coach Bennett said of how things have been progressing with her overall quite youthful squad. “We have a lot of hitters. We have a lot of different options.

“It’s trying to find the right combination right now and pushing the girls to put it out there all the time. They are doing really good and working really well with the younger kids, trying to bring them along.”

Going into the season, the Patriots are expected to have 14 varsity players and a dozen of those are either seniors or juniors.

The Patriot 12th-graders have plenty of experience and feature setter/defensive specialists Anna Gathman and Haley Hatfield, hitters Makenna Gibson, Reagan Nutter and Nakia Bracy along with Parkersburg Catholic transfer Grace Pedersen, a libero.

“The girls play bigger than what they look. We’re going to surprise some teams,” added the coach.

PSHS is expected to run a 6-2 with Gathman and sophomore Lora Litman serving as the setters.

“I think it’s going to be a nice mix,” added Bennett, whose junior class includes varsity members Jasmine Judy (S/DS) as well as spikers Delaney Parsons, Megan McDougle, Jada Baker, Joyce Eddy and Logan Bowman, none of whom lettered a year ago. “The returning varsity lettermen, they are really taking in everything.”

Freshman Maia Johnson also should see varsity time at the net on attacks.

Bennett said her team’s communication has been solid thus far and she’s been impressed with the leadership from her seniors.

“Probably, out of my senior groups, they are taking the most responsibility of how things go,” she said. “They are trying to change it and make sure we’re all in this together, no matter what grade or team you are on. I definitely think it’s helping us.”

While Johnson is one of the nine newcomers, the remaining eight — Jaslynn Dixon, Ariel Smith, Reagan Parsons, Ava Parsons, Caitlin Hopkins, Taya Scott, Miranda Beatty and Lucy Pratt — are set to compete for the freshman team.

As is always the case, continued effort and improvement are expected by the coach as players aren’t guaranteed a starting job.

“They want this year to be different,” Bennett added of having lost to Spring Valley in the regional semifinal. “They were excited to get back into it and try to get somewhat of a normal time.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

PARKERSBURG SOUTH VOLLEYBALL

Head coach: Becky Bennett

Roster

Seniors

1 Makenna Gibson (OH/RS)), 15 Reagan Nutter (RS/MB), 16 Grace Pedersen (L), 20 Nakia Bracy (MB/RS), 23 Anna Gathman (S/DS), 29 Haley Hatfield (S/DS)

Juniors

3 Jasmine Judy (S/DS), 5 Delaney Parsons (RS), 6 Megan McDougle (OH/RS), 7 Jada Baker (OH/DS), 13 Joyce Eddy (OH), 27 Logan Bowman (MB)

Sophomores

8 Lora Litman (S), 14 Taylor Lamp, 24 Kara Snyder, 25 Alicia Lemus, 28 Cami Derenberger, 30 Morgan Smith

Freshmen

4 Jaslynn Dixon, 9 Ariel Smith, 11 Reagan Parsons, 12 Ava Parsons, 17 Maia Johnson (MB), 19 Caitlin Hopkins, 21 Taya Scott, 22 Miranda Beatty, 26 Lucy Pratt

Schedule

Sept. 2: Morgantown, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 3: at John Marshall, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 4: George Washington/Nitro/South Charleston, noon

Sept. 8: University/Magnolia, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 10: at Riverside with Woodrow Wilson, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 11: at Philip Barbour with Musselman, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 15: at George Wsahington with Cabell Midland, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 17: at Wheeling Park, 5 p.m.

Sept. 18: Hedgesville/Williamstown, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 24: George Washington/Huntington, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 26: at Capital with Princeton, 10 a.m.

Oct. 1: at University, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 7: Ritchie County/John Marshall, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 11: PHS/Magnolia/Buckhannon-Upshur, noon

Oct. 13: at PHS with Ripley, 6 p.m.

Oct. 15: at Morgantown, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 22: Wheeling Park, 5 p.m. (senior night)

Nov. 2: Sectionals (TBD)

Nov. 7: Regionals (TBD)

Nov. 13-14: State (TBD)