Lady Dragons split jamboree against Lathrop, Savannah
With the home opener against Trenton slated for 5 p.m. Monday, the Cameron High School Lady Dragon Volleyball Team has just one week to assess their takeaways from last weekend’s jamboree.
In their final preseason tune-up before Monday’s season opener, the Lady Dragons fell to eventual jamboree champion Savannah in two sets, after defeating Lathrop in two sets, during their first live action since participating in the Lathrop Summer League in July.
“After that first set against Lathrop, I was extremely proud. The girls had their energy up. They were high level,” Cameron coach Addie Floyd said. “We have multiple waves. The girls have the tools to play multiple positions. We figured let’s go with what we got right now (against Savannah) and maybe we’ll mix it up after watching game film. We will see them later this season because they’re in our conference.”
The Lady Dragons began the day with a dominating sweep of Clinton County rival Lathrop. In each set, Cameron jumped out to a sizeable lead, but the Lady Mules held their own down the stretch as they fought to stave off match point.
“I’m proud of us. Our first game was really, really good. We had a lot of fun. The adrenaline was definitely up that first game. We got in our heads a little bit in that second game. It was a conference team, and we could have done better,” Cameron senior outside hitter Desirae Barnes said.
Against Savannah, the Lady Dragons experienced a reverse of fortunes - falling down early but fighting to stave off match point. With the Lady Dragons likely facing the Lady Savages multiple times this season, Coach Floyd said she held her team back a bit, in order to leave a few surprises for Savannah once wins and losses start to matter as the pair compete for the Midland Empire Conference title and potentially face off in the district tournament.
One significant surprise the Lady Dragons could not hold off on unveiling was the new additions to the varsity lineup. While Kendall Harper, Addie McVicker, Ella Jameson, Eme Teel and Barnes have been fixtures in the starting lineup for years, backups Ava Henry, Daltry Puls and Amelia Conley succeeded during their turns in the rotation. Senior Lady Dragon Kristi Morris also had an opportunity to stretch her wings Saturday, and took full advantage.
“It’s fun. I played with them all of my life, basically. Getting to play with them more consistently is obviously really fun ... You always wish you could have got it earlier. It’s really cool I get that opportunity,” Morris said.
