By Stephen Smoot
In recent years, Pendleton County Wildcat volleyball has relentlessly driven through rivals and other competitors throughout the region. Last year, they made the state tournament in Charleston for the second consecutive year, eliminating the number one seed Buffalo in first round action.
Now the team returns to the hardwood to add more accomplishments to what they achieved in 2023.
Madison Day will take over the program after serving as an assistant to previous head coach Rod Cooper. She previously was head coach for one year at her alma mater of Glenville State University, where she also played. Hannah Bailey, who played for Lewis County, has joined as assistant coach.
Bailey exclaimed that she is “excited to see what Madison can teach us” and is “excited to be a part of the team.”
The Wildcats will rely heavily on veteran Lizzie Alt for both play and leadership. Alt, who also stars in softball, “is my all-around outside,” Day stated.
“Lizzie started as setter, then moved to outside last year. She’s really improved.” Day said. The head coach called Alt her “custodian . . . she cleans up everything.”
Travel ball, said Day, ensured that Alt’s “volleyball IQ is very, very high due to exposure to different atmospheres.” The variety of venues, styles, and coaching that Alt received in travel ball helped to develop her into one of the most formidable players in the region. It also provided flexibility and an ability to make key adjustments quickly.
Day also shared that Emma Hartman continues to improve and develop. Only in her second year as a full varsity player, Day said that she showed flashes last season, but “has really come into her own . . . She’s changed into a totally different player.”
One of the fiercest of Wildcats is Baylee Beachler, who Day described as her “big dog in the middle.” Day added that “she’s owned that spot since she started” and is an important role model for the two freshmen also playing in the middle position.
To Day, the experienced players made a mindset jump last season. They started to embrace the idea of “it can never be enough.” Whatever success the girls had, they continued to crave more and worked diligently to achieve it. That carried over into all of the girls’ varsity sports last season as well.
Last year’s rock at setter, Carolyn Varner, is recovering from injury, but the team will see a lot of Brynlynn Waggy at that position in 2024. Waggy played for the first time on varsity last season and improved tremendously as it continued. The setter runs the offense by setting the table for the outside and middle players. Waggy brings, Day said, “A lot of natural ability” to the position.
Waggy brings “good communication,” said Day. Bailey added that “she’s got a great presence on the floor. She helps to bring the best out of them.”
Breena Bowers will patrol the back line, stepping into the “big shoes” left by departing senior Allie Cooper. “Breena can be effective. She’s not the same as Allie,” Day explained, “but she is just as good.”
The team also expects important contributions from Alyssa Bennett. Like Waggy, she moved up to varsity last year and gained experience in big games and critical situations. This year, said Day, “She’s just that much more confident. Her goal this season is to prepare to take over when Lizzie leaves, the dependable one who cleans up the messes.”
Callie Judy, a newcomer to varsity, “offers a lot of promise,” according to Day, who also shared that “she has put in a lot of time going to camps.”
Behind the varsity is coming a group of seven very talented and athletic freshmen, who the coaches expect will emerge as a power class when they get to their junior and senior years.
This season will see Pendleton County face a number of tough tests, including a major tournament early in the season at Greenbrier East. Last year, they upset Parkersburg, a triple A school with over 3,000 students. They will also face a Buffalo team still smarting from a state tournament defeat at the hands of the Wildcats.
For the season, “our goal is a PVC championship,” said Day.
Beyond the team, beyond the program’s reputation as a single A power, there is something more to what the girls bring to the table. Day explains it like this, saying, “Being a Wildcat is something they have taken with them and they embody that Wildcat tenacity, adaptability, ferociousness, being a predator, not prey.”
Day also said that “Coop had a saying. There is a difference between the hunter and the hunted. Being hunted is a lot tougher. Our program has gone to being the hunted,” in other words, the team that every other program, even in double and triple A, circles on their schedule as a big game against a team to beat.
Cutline:
Lizzie Alt rises to spike on an opponent in the West Virginia State Volleyball Tournament in Charleston last fall as Breena Bowers shifts to support.
