Young Cubs perform well at B.A. Sports Classic

Bell City players wear blue warmup T-shirts with 45 printed on the back.

The 45 stands for 45 minutes, the average length of a best-of-three volleyball match.

Cubs seniors, who came up with the design, said they have a somewhat inexperienced group this year after graduating three important hitters off last year's team. They said the only way to climb back to the top of Class 1 is by hustling for 45 minutes in every match.

"Last year everything pretty much got handed to us," senior Sherilyn Long said. "We had that good of a team. This year we're going to have to fight, and that's going to help us in the end."

Bell City had the deepest run by any local volleyball team at the B.A. Sports Classic. The Cubs won their pool play by beating Sikeston, St. Vincent and Seckman. They advanced to the gold bracket, where they beat Poplar Bluff and Marshall before losing to Lebanon 25-17, 25-13 in the gold semifinals.

It was a better performance than the Cubs had at the 2007 tournament, when they lost in the first round of the gold bracket before winning the consolation bracket.

"Last year there was a lot of expectations from that team, and when they didn't fill those expectations, it made the beginning of our season kind of rough," Bell City coach Erin Hoffman said. "But this year our team walked in and nobody expects anything from Bell City this year. And I think we came in and proved quite a bit."

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Bell City's Jasmine Johnson spikes over Marshall County's (Ky.) Lena Bohannon during their match at B.A. Sports volleyball tournament Saturday.

Expectations were high in Bell City in 2007 with then-seniors Jenny Lathum, Jessica Abner and Rachel Spears -- all four-year starters -- leading the way.

The team failed to live up to expectations, not only at the B.A. Sports Classic, but also in the state playoffs. The Cubs missed the Class 1 quarterfinal for the first time since 2002 and the state final four for the first time since 2004.

Cubs players said this year's squad has a different personality with a new leader, senior setter Codie Lancaster. Players know they are inexperienced. They know opponents don't expect as much from them. But they feel if they give 45 minutes of effort each match, they have enough talent to be a Class 1 contender.

Bell City has started this season 8-3-2.

"They know if they give everything they've got for 45 minutes, they're going to win the game," Hoffman said. "We are down from last year right now. But we're going to get better every single game and every single practice."

Different leader

Long said the Cubs' leader last year was Spears because she was the loudest and most outgoing player on the court.

Lancaster has stepped into the role as team leader this year.

"It's hard because I'm so used to being the young one on the team," Lancaster said. "I started playing when I was a freshman, so all the other girls were the ones who were the leaders. So now I'm kind of the oldest because our squad is real young this year. It's kind of like, 'No one else is going to, so I have to.' Coach told me at the beginning of the season that if we wanted to go anywhere this year, we needed a leader and that is was probably going to have to be me. I just decided to go ahead and do it."

Senior Mallory Dockins said Spears was a leader by being crazy and loud, while Lancaster does more encouraging on the court.

"Since her freshman year she hasn't missed a game, so she knows how it all goes and she knows everything happens," Hoffman said of Lancaster. "So she needs to work those other girls in and get them used to everything and get them going and hopefully eventually we have 12 leaders instead of just one.

"She's a very, very smart setter. She knows, 'OK, this person needs to hit the ball in order to get fired up.' Or, 'If this person gets a good kill, then they are going to get the rest of the team fired up.'"

Different team

Lancaster said that Bell City players greatly depended on Abner, Spears and Lathum to help the Cubs win last year.

"This year we have to all work as a team," Lancaster said. "It's got to be everybody. ... It can't just be three or four people."

Hoffman said the team has some inexperience, but that inexperience is not always bad.

"One good thing I have going for me is that a lot of these girls have never really played varsity before," Hoffman said. "So they don't know that pressure. They don't have all that 'Oh my gosh, we have to be good,' because they've never played varsity before. They are just kind of walking in there blindly, just loving the game, ready to go."

Last year's Cubs team was focused on winning a state title from the first match. Long said she feels the Cubs can be successful, but that nothing is certain. She added that the Cubs' finish at the B.A. Classic helped them realize they can win if they work for 45 minutes per match.

"We played really good together and we've learned to fight for the game," Long said. "We don't just give up when we get behind. In plenty of games we came from behind and have improved. This weekend was for mostly improvement. ... We use these kinds of games to prepare us for districts.

"It was really impressive. We're super excited about it. We're not upset about that game [against Lebanon] at all. We felt we worked our hardest."

Jasmine Johnson, a middle hitter, has helped replace some production lost by the graduation of Bell City's top three hitters.

"We had a lot of hype last year," Dockins said. "Now, we've got to work real hard for it."