The Cleveland State Lady Cougar Volleyball team will open its season at home tomorrow at 7 p.m. The game will also feature four alumni from Cleveland High School, including Cleveland State’s Cydney Brock, Lydia Martin, and Madeline Dasher. CSCC Athletics will host “Cleveland High Night” to feature these alumni and offer free admission to the game to current Cleveland High students.
This year’s roster features two returners.
Redshirt sophomore Amanda Taylor and 2018 All-Conference member sophomore Aly Grace Lemons will provide leadership for the Lady Cougars. Lemons’ TCCAA nod was well-deserved, as she was first on the team in service attempts with 32 and total points with 249.5. She was also second on the team in kills with 193, kills per set with a 2.33 mark, total attacks with 509, blocks with 10, and total blocks with 39.
This season is also a special one as it will also be the inaugural season for newly minted head coach Alizabeth Atnip. Atnip served as an assistant under Randy Evans since the program was born in 2017. This will be the third full season for the program and last season, the Lady Cougars went 13-14 overall under the guidance of Evans.
Atnip expects her freshman-heavy roster to make a huge impact in her inaugural season at the helm. “There is a lot of incoming talent from this freshman class,” she said of her roster. “I expect to see a lot of results from Sydney Allen in our setting spot while both Lydia Martin and Katlyn Knight will be picking up a lot of balls. We also have so many power hitters like Stephanie Burke and Celie Patterson, it’s going to be exciting.”
Atnip also expects the season to be an exciting one for the Lady Cougars. “As this season sets to kickoff, our team is ready to see what they are made of,” she said. “They have been putting in work for the past two weeks and have embraced the team expectations. However lofty we make the goals, these girls are going to push each other to get there. Our team motto this year is ‘I can’t, we can’ and that’s exactly how this team functions.”
Next Three Matches:
Aug. 26 at Gadsden State at 7:00 ET
Aug. 27 at Snead State at 7:00 ET
Aug. 31 vs. Alice Lloyd at 2:00 ET (Welch College Tri-Match)