BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The Bloomfield Wildcats volleyball program will enter the 2013 season with a sufficient supply of juniors.
All nine players on the 2013 varsity squad are entering their junior year of high school.
"Last year was a rebuilding year because we lost a good, strong senior group the year before," Bloomfield coach Starla Pulley said. "We only had one senior last year. This year we don't have any seniors. We have all juniors, but two of the junior are returning from playing varsity last year."
The Wildcats are coming off a 9-19-1 2012 varsity season.
Returning starters on the varsity squad are setter Chelsea Delay and lefty hitter Lindsey Young.
Pulley said Madison Staggs and Emily O'Neal, who recently served as middle hitters, will start as outside hitters this season.
"It's a good group of juniors," Pulley said. "They work hard and have good chemistry. We are hoping to be more competitive this year in our county as well as our district."
Bloomfield will be tested on the road early. The Wildcats first three regular season games are on the road Sept. 3 against Greenville, Sept. 10 against Richland and Sept. 12 against Poplar Bluff before they begin play in the SEMO Tournament in Cape Girardeau Sept. 13-14. Bloomfield's first home game is Sept. 16 against Dexter.
"The beginning of the season is always a good point to see where you are at," Pulley said. "I'm hoping to be successful our first couple of games. We played Poplar Bluff this summer and was pretty competitive with them. Our girls have grown a lot so I'm hoping with the next couple of weeks of practice we'll be ready."
Bloomfield will compete in the SCAA Conference with Advance, Bell City, Bernie, Dexter, Puxico, Woodland and Richland. Bernie, which won the conference last season, will host the SCAA Tournament Oct. 14-18.
"Last year was a really tough year for our conference," Pulley said. "Advance, Dexter and Bernie were strong. Bernie and Advance lost a lot of players, but I still think the conference will be one of the toughest volleyball conferences in southeast Missouri. Dexter didn't lose anyone last year and I think they are going to be really tough. We played them this summer and struggled a little bit, but we've made some changes since then with our lineup."
Bernie will also host Bloomfield's Class 1 district tournament Oct. 28-29. Bloomfield placed second in its district last season. Bell City, Bernie, Bloomfield, Campbell, Clarkton, Richland and Risco will compete in Class 1, District 2, this season.
"Last year we knew going into it we were going to have a tough year because Bernie had a really good team last year," Pulley said. "We are hoping to be more competitive this year. One of their goals this year is to work really hard and work for a district title."
"We have a good fan base for our girls and our community really supports them," Pulley added. "The kids in our school district enjoy watching the volleyball team. We have some people who don't have kids, but come to every one of our games. They are always asking the girls when their next game is and I think this year should be a good year for our team and community. We are looking forward to it."
2013 Bloomfield Varsity Volleyball Schedule
Date Opponent Location
9/3 Greenville Away
9/10 Richland Away
9/12 Poplar Bluff Away
9/13 SEMO Tourn. Cape Girardeau
9/14 SEMO Tourn. Cape Girardeau
9/16 Dexter Home
9/19 Cape Central Home
9/23 Sikeston Away
9/26 Notre Dame Home
9/30 Puxico Away
10/1 Twin Rivers Home
10/3 Woodland Away
10/5 Perryville Tourn. Away
10/7 Oran Away
10/8 Advance Home
10/10 Bernie Home
10/14-18 SCAA Tourn. Bernie
10/21 Malden Home
10/22 Bell City Home
10/24 Zalma Away
10/28-29 District Tourn. Bernie
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