Sikeston Lady Bulldogs volleyball team working towards a stronger unit

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs volleyball team will try to make the inevitable process of filling the void of graduated seniors into a growing one.

After losing court staples such as Trenice Greer and Monica Carter, this year's version of the Lady Bulldogs will focus on building a stronger, overall team.

"We lost a very good hitter and our primary passer," Sikeston volleyball coach Steve Beydler said about Greer and Carter. "With them gone, we're forced to spread out the offense a little more and, ultimately, I think that will be a good thing for the team because we're going to have to rely on more people."

The biggest obstacle the Lady Bulldogs will have to hurdle is trying to move on without the presence of Greer. The all-region, all-district and all-conference selection was one of the area's most powerful strikers who routinely led them in kills each match.

Greer, who set a new school record with 300 kills last season, signed to play volleyball with Southwestern Illinois College.

As much as a threat Greer was offensively, Carter was her equal defensively.

Carter has been Sikeston's libero for the better part of three seasons. She had 272 digs last year and helped hold the Lady Bulldogs' defense together when it mattered most.

"We lost two people last year that put a lot into the team," Sikeston senior Kalli Williams said. "But we have a lot of people as a whole to make the team a lot better. I think we've grown as a team more than we did last year."

Sikeston ended last season the same place they have the last two years. They've fell in the semifinals of the Class 4, District 1 tournament to Farmington twice now. Their overall record was 17-15-1.

Although their two most veteran leaders are gone, Sikeston's next phase is to develop as a whole starting with their most experienced returners.

Lauren Beydler returns as the school's record holder in aces with 69 a season ago.

Beydler, who is also the youngest daughter of coach Steve Beydler, will take over the duties as Sikeston's primary setter with the absence of Greer. Last season, Beydler was vital to Sikeston's passing game totaling 346 assists as a sophomore.

"It's a tough position to be in," Lauren Beydler said about being the team's primary setter. "You take all the blame. Being the coaches daughter, you're expected to do so much. But, it's definitely one of my favorite things to do."

Williams returns with the most varsity experience after playing mostly around the net the last two seasons. Esther Chinwuko, a junior who began playing just a season ago, will be the Lady Bulldogs' go-to outside hitter and junior Sadera Williams will also be of help around the net.

"I think Esther can be one of my main targets," Lauren Beydler said. "She's consistent. I know I can always count on her. Sedara has stepped up a lot. She's one of our main hitters. She's got power and is able to put the ball down."

Sikeston has five seniors, including Williams, Sydney Davis, Victoria Knight, Alexis Odom and Ricci Tidwell, who played in and out of the lineup for most of last season except for Davis who did not play her junior year.

Chinwuko, Sadara Williams, Nastajia Blackmon, Elizabeth Sewell and Kyra Rainwater, who are all juniors, are expected to round out the varsity squad.

"We need to see consistency," coach Beydler said. "We had a really good summer early on and then things slacked off after that."

Lauren Beydler and Kalli Williams will serve as Sikeston's captains this season. They're hoping to continue their stranglehold on the SEMO Conference where they've won the last five championships as well as simply improve as a team as the season progresses.

"We're working a lot harder this year, due to the fact that we're having to do things differently this year," Lauren Beydler said. "We want to improve on our record from last year. Whether or not we do that depends on us. Hopefully our hard work will pay off."

Sikeston's season will begin tonight as they host Bernie with junior varsity action starting at 6 p.m.