Lee University volleyball Coach Christa Fabre will take a different approach to preparation for the 2025 season. After traveling down to the Atlanta area and spending the night with team-member Payton Danley’s family, the Lady Flames will board the plane and head for Nicaragua on August 7.
Coach Fabre laughingly described her team’s first night together as a slumber party. “During our preseason this year, we our getting the opportunity to go, serve and compete in Nicaragua. Serving and being in another country, I am confident that our team will experience things that draw us out of our comfort zone and into the life and story of others,” the coach explained.
“The week we spend in Nicaragua is so full! We are competing against the Nicaraguan national team and connecting with their players is one thing that will have major impact for our team.
An important and meaningful aspect of this portion of our trip is that our very own volunteer assistant, Jacky Brown, played on the national team in Nicaragua prior to her recruitment to play at Lee,” Coach Fabre stressed.
“In addition to competing while we are there, we will serve through a few different avenues. We will run volleyball clinics for children and young people in the area. We will assist in feeding programs and run VBS-like programs in schools and churches.”
“I have spent time doing mission work in my past and know the impact experiences like this will have on each of our girls and the people in Nicaragua. I am confident God will work and do great things in and through each of us during this opportunity,” she proudly proclaimed.
Previewing Upcoming Team
Watching the players back from last season and the newcomers perform together against the Nicaraguan national team and how her Lady Flames bond together in helping others over the week-long adventure, Coach Fabre and her staff can begin planning for the new season which officially opens with an exhibition against Lincoln Memorial University on Aug. 26.
The coach admits Carmen Perez was a key player team for last year’s team. Perez has decided to walk away from the game. “I feel we have players coming in on the outside (hitters) who I think will be impact players and fill the role she played so well for us,” said Fabre.
“We have several new recruits about which I am excited. We have a couple of outsides I believe will find time on the court and help us take the next steps as a program in Jasmine Terry and Jordyn Butler.” Terry is a freshman from (Irondale) Alabama and Butler is a (red-shirt sophomore) transfer from UT-Chattanooga. We have a freshman setter coming in who runs the court really well, in Sydney Sharpe (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.). We are adding some first year right sides and middle (hitters) who have high ceilings of growth and another middle (junior) transferring from Miami-Dade Community College who I believe will help us as well, Esthefany Rabit,” noted the third-year Lee head coach.
Powerful sophomore outside hitter Sara Palumbo was Lee’s leader in points scored and is a top returnee. She had 368 kills, and 283 digs. Lefty Sophia Lippert was all set for a big season before going down with a knee injury last year. The senior is recovering well and hopes to be able to return to play this season. Sophomore Payton Danley (318 kills, 92 blocks), (red-shirt senior) Naomi Hockless (171 kills, 85 blocks), and (junior) Berra Soyler (967 assists, 194 assists) were all key components of the offense while (senior) Izzy Denton (559 digs, 54 aces) was a major defensive contributor. Sophomores Brynna Sands, Madison Dahl and Mikayla Buhr stepped up when the Lady Flames were shorthanded late in the season and gave the team a lift.
Coach Fabre likes the positives about this team, “We have a great core of returning players who have bought in and are passionate about pursuing the goals we have set as a program. The returning group has put so much work into developing a strong culture and foundation for the new players we are adding to our roster. This is the first season where we have depth in each position and that is great for pushing each other in practice and for handling the intense physicality of our short season.”
Fabre adds that ball control is going to be a major focus for this team. “We have a lot of power at the net and should be able to score the ball well, but we will need to be able to handle the first contact well. We will always have a focus on building our culture and circle of trust throughout the season as well. We have our sights set on championships and I believe this group has what it takes to be competing for a conference title and taking our season beyond conference play at the end of season,”
As usual the University of West Florida and The University of Alabama in Huntsville stand in the way of bringing home a Gulf South Conference crown and five or six other teams will have their say before Nov. 23 play is completed. After the exhibition with LMU, Lee has nine non-conference contests, including three games in Florida. The first home matches will be on Saturday, September 13 with a tri-match against Thomas More University and Emory and Henry University before opening GSC play by hosting Christian Brothers University on Sept. 23.