Lady Patriots still have high hopes for 2007

By Staff
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
The 2006 season was a banner year for the Brewer varsity volleyball program, as the Lady Patriots advanced to the Elite Eight state tournament for the first time in the school's history. That team featured seven seniors; all have graduated and leave behind a considerable void.
"We lost a lot of players," Brewer coach Ron Smith said. "We've got a lot of good talent to replace. It's going to be hard to do; that was a special bunch of seniors."
One of those graduated seniors, Kayla Amerine, signed a scholarship with Martin Methodist. Two others had scholarship offers but elected to pursue other opportunities – Andrea Crawford signed to play basketball at Wallace State and Michelle Tillman decided to attend UAB and forego continuing her volleyball career. The other four seniors were Courtney Scott, Rebecca Alderton, Genie Browning and Megan Murphy.
This season, the Lady Patriots will have just one senior on the varsity roster in outside hitter Megan Hormel. Hormel was the team's fourth-leading scorer in 2006, finishing the year with 377 kills. She was third on the team in both digs and aces, finishing with 175 and 107, respectively.
"There's certainly a lot of pressure," Hormel said. "Last year we were a team that had seven seniors and now this year I'm the only one. But I know that some of the other upperclassmen will step up and help lead as well."
In addition to Hormel, juniors Kendra Jones and Krista Hughes also return from the 2006 team. Three other juniors and three sophomores complete the opening day roster – the juniors are Hannah Chunn, Alyssa Bartee and Courtney Swafford and the sophomores are Chelsey Smith, Elizabeth Bromirski and Brooke Harvel.
"Megan, Kendra and Krista are probably going to be the core of our team just because they played varsity last year," Smith said. "We're starting a lot of new faces on the varsity, so we're going to be a little young not just age-wise but also in terms of varsity experience."
Jones and Hormel will primarily see action at outside hitter, with Chunn and Smith taking over at middle hitter. Hughes returns as libero while Bartee and Harvel will each be setters.
"Kendra Jones is really going to have to step up and help fill a big hitting role for us," Smith said. "I think she can; she's got good talent and a good attitude. Krista Hughes did a great job for us at libero last year so it's nice to have her back. Alyssa Bartee and Brooke Harvel are both new to setting on the varsity level, so it might take them a while to get into the groove of it."
Even despite his team's youth and inexperience, he refuses to set the bar any lower this season.
"Absolutely not; our goal is still to get to the state tournament and advance some if we can," he said. "We know it's going to be harder this year, but athletically I think we're just as strong as we were last season. We're not quite as tall, but we can jump. I think if we can just get some experience by the time tournament time rolls around, we ought to be okay.
"They're going to have to work hard and it may take us a little while before we really start to click."
The team's schedule features several Class 6A schools in Bob Jones, Buckhorn and Grissom. Brewer's area features perennial powerhouse and 2006 Elite Eight team Hartselle, as well as Cullman and West Point.
The Lady Patriots will participate in several tournaments during the season, including hosting the Brewer-Pepsi Invitational Tournament in late August. The field of 16 teams includes local powers Hartselle, Arab and Danville.
In addition, Brewer hosts the Morgan County tournament and will travel to Gulf Shores for a tournament in October.
And if the attitude of Hormel is any indication, the Lady Patriots could play into November as well, when the Elite Eight is held.
"Last year we always referred to ourselves as a Cinderella team," she said. "I really think we kind of surprised some people. This year, we feel that the bar is set and now we need to expect that kind of performance every year. I know that people are going to look at our team and say, 'they lost seven seniors, they're not going to be as good again.'
"I think we can go out there and prove those people wrong. For me personally, that's one of my favorite things to do – I love proving people wrong."