BOAZ, Ala. – As Snead State Community College's Volleyball Team enters Year Two under Head Coach Cristie Brothers, the Lady Parsons have reloaded and set their sights on having one of the best seasons in program history.

"Our biggest goal is to finish stronger than we did last season," Brothers said. "I believe we finished tied for third in the ACCC. Ultimately, I would like to see us win the conference for the first time."

Last year, the Lady Parsons finished 26-9 overall, 20-4 in ACCC play.

After finishing as runner-up in the 2021 ACCC Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament, Snead State's shot at the title was cut short in 2022. The Lady Parsons took down Coastal Alabama-East 3-1 in the opening round, but then dropped two straight matches against Monroe College (0-3) and Bishop State Community College (0-3).

"Overall, we had a really successful season last year considering the fact that we lost two players in the middle of the summer that transferred to Division I and Division II schools," Brothers said. "We were a little undersized, but we had good chemistry and they worked really hard.

"We had to develop a small team mentality. We had to learn different ways to score points. We had to find weaknesses in our opponents and take advantage of those. And the biggest thing I believe we worked on last year was our serving game. From the beginning, we concentrated on making our serves tough, and we ended up being No. 1 in the conference in Aces and Aces Per Set. That's something I want to continue through this year.

"I think this year's team needs to be able to run a faster offense than we ran last year. When setting priorities for last season, there were so many things that we needed to concentrate on that a quicker tempo wasn't a top priority, and I think it needs to be this year. I think we have the weapons to run a little faster tempo."

Last year, the Lady Parsons' squad included 10 freshmen. Of those players, Brothers said seven were returning in 2023-24 for their sophomore season, along with another 10 incoming freshmen.

"We have two strong defensive specialists coming back in Jaden Dismuke and Megan Lee, as well as our returning outside hitter Lilly Rowell, who was first-team All-ACCC," Brothers said. "Dismuke and Lee are just solid, they work hard. I can't complain about the effort they bring in any situation. And Lilly is a well-rounded player. She passes well in addition to being one of our best attackers."

Brothers said there were a handful of freshmen she expected to make an immediate impact.

"Jaleigh DeVine – she has a massive vertical leap, so I expect her to bring a lot of offense to our team," she said. "We also have Gracie Manley, from Addison, who was the State MVP in her classification last year. She'll be one of our new setters. And Lainie Phillips, from Guntersville, will be our other setter. She played on the Guntersville girls' state championship basketball team a couple of years ago, so she's a multi-sport athlete."

Just a few weeks away from the start of the season, Brothers said she was pleased with how the team was coming along.

"I think we have a good mix of hard work, team work and talent," she said. "We do have a little more size overall, and I feel like we have the players to hopefully play a bit more up tempo. That's going to be our challenge: To get our ball control in command so we can run those faster tempo sets."

So far, a strength of this year's squad was the effort exemplified in practice, and the chemistry that's been built thus far.

"They have seemed to gel really well together," Brothers said. "I hope that will be something that will hold us together during the rough parts of the season where we're traveling a lot."

Brothers also touched on a couple of areas that the Lady Parsons needed to improve on in order to achieve their goals this season.

"Right now, our serve receive has to improve," Brothers said. "We lost a solid part of our serve receive with Jordan Beason moving on, and we're going to have to pick up the slack … But I think the biggest thing that has to improve from last year to this year – to take us further – is our blocking game. That's going to be key to getting us back to the Conference Finals.

"Our goal needs to be to get better every day, every season to build on what we have done before. You should always strive to do better and never be satisfied."

Snead State Volleyball opens the 2023-24 season at home against ACCC rival Gadsden State on Aug. 17, beginning at 5 p.m. inside Plunkett-Wallace Gymnasium.

Admission to all home games this season is free to the public thanks to Snead State Athletics sponsor Howard Bentley Buick GMC in Albertville.

Follow Lady Parsons Volleyball and all Snead State Athletics at www.sneadathletics.com.