The Jefferson City Lady Jays volleyball season has ended in the district semifinals three straight years. Coach Lisa Hoffmeyer said it's time to break the cycle.
The team's slogan for this season is "Be the change."
"They don't want to be average, they want to win games," Hoffmeyer said. "They know they are capable of doing it."
The high expectations come with the territory when seven of the 10 players on the varsity roster are seniors.
Hitters Baylee Rozier and Corrin Lepper, and libero Tori LePage have been named captains for the Lady Jays.
"We have such a solid group," Hoffmeyer said. "We have a lot of kids who are working hard and I think they are going to be really good together."
Rozier and Annabelle Maasen, a sophomore, are slotted as outside hitters. Lepper and Stephanie Fisher are the middle hitters right now with Veronica Allison at setter and LePage at libero.
While the roster is full of upperclassmen now, Hoffmeyer said it's possible some players could move up the ladder by the end of the season.
"We have some depth at a couple of spots," she said. "Some more than others. As far as down the chain of command, we have some junior varsity kids who will test some of our varsity kids this year."
The JV and varsity squads made the trip to the University of Nebraska in July to participate in a camp.
Allison earned an outstanding setter award at a camp, while Rozier won an outstanding hitter award last year.
"There's a lot of talent floating around in that gym, so the fact they got recognized in that company was a pretty special honor," Hoffmeyer said.
The focus in the offseason has been defense. Hoffmeyer said they "try to make defense the theme every single day."
"I think defensively we are a little bit more disciplined than we have in the past," she said. "I think it's not a big secret that we had a big weakness in the middle of our court, so I think we've made the adjustments and we're a little more equipped to cover some of our weak points."
As for the offense, speed and disguising their attack have been the focus points.
"We don't want to get to where we're coming from the same spots consistently," Hoffmeyer said.
The Lady Jays didn't quite get the results they were looking for in last Tuesday's Jamboree at Camdenton. Jefferson City defeated Sedalia Smith-Cotton before splitting sets with Marshfield and falling to Camdenton.
"Not as well as we would have liked," Hoffmeyer said. " They really did compete well, they never rolled over, they never gave up, they communicated. Just didn't come out on top."
The matches start to count today against Rock Bridge at Fleming Fieldhouse. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The Bruins defeated the Lady Jays in straight sets last season, the first of 13 straight-set losses for Jefferson City.
"I don't think we have one of those groups that will unravel when things get sticky," Hoffmeyer said. "They are a group that are tough competitive kids who can handle adversity and will be able to respond in some of those tough moments."