Volleyball season fastly approaching

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Volleyball season fastly approaching

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

LITTLE CYPRESS — More than 80 campers convened at the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bear Cave anxious to learn more about the game of volleyball.

The LC-M Lady Bear varsity volleyball team will also get a nice learning experience this weekend when they head to a varsity volleyball camp in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Long-time Lady Bear coach Vicki Castino is very excited about the week ahead.

“It’s a pretty busy week, but it’s so much fun,†Castino said. “To have this many kids at the camp is pretty awesome and then to get to go to Alabama later in the week, it doesn’t get any better than that. You start to get excited this time of the year because you know the season is getting closer.â€

The Lady Bear campers were soaking it all in Tuesday morning. In one gym Coach Castino was teaching campers how to set up offenses and defenses and learning rotations. In the Bear Cave, former Lady Bear standouts Kristinn Holbrooks and Ashley Castino were teaching the younger ones plays at the net, setting and serving techniques.

For Holbrooks, it’s always a great feeling to come back and help out at her alma mater.

“It’s great to come back here and help out and I love being around kids that want to learn the game,†said Holbrooks. “The kids get in a lot of fundamentals and basics. They get to work on their movement and form. I always want to see LC-M excel in volleyball and a camp like this really helps in the long run.â€

Holbrooks, a 2002 LC-M graduate and All-District performer for Coach Castino is excited about her future as well.

“I’m going to work and will coach for Orangefield when the year starts and I’m so excited about that,†Holbrooks said. “I’m looking forward to assisting Coach (Linda) Riddick. The Orangefield kids work really hard and I’m looking forward to the excitement when I get there.â€

Josie Nimitz, 10, who is heading to the fifth grade, was just one of the campers that was soaking in all the knowledge.

“I love playing volleyball and I really like all sports,†Nimitz said. “I like to serve and I really love to spike the ball. I’m also learning a lot about defense and that’s hard.â€

Nimitz could likely follow in the footsteps of parents Steve and Tina Nimitz, who were both solid athletes at LC-M and both graduated in 1985.

“My Mom was pretty good in basketball and really good in track and she was always fast,†Nimitz said. “My Dad, he was a football player, so he makes me tough.â€

The Lady Bears will look to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season after finishing 21-13 and capturing the third-place postseason berth out of a rugged District 22-4A.

The Lady Bears should be right in the mix again, battling powerful Mid-County teams in Port Neches-Groves and Nederland along with the rest of a competitive loop.

LC-M lost several quality seniors but Coach Castino’s cupboard is far from bare. Three outstanding starters return including Morgan Blohm, Shayna Sheppard and Christine Sicktich plus the likes of returning letter winners Jordyn Davis, Olivia Hinds, Carly Gauthier, and Kristi Trahan.

The trip to Alabama will help the Lady Bears fine-tune their game with the season right around the bend.

“The Tuscaloosa Camp is a tremendous camp,†Castino said. “The kids get to meet a lot of outstanding coaches and players from across the country and they get a whole lot out of it.â€

The Lady Bears will be “road warriors†to open the season. They will have two scrimmages at Bridge City (Aug. 10) and Barbers Hill (Aug. 14) before opening the season on the road Aug. 14 at Hamshire-Fannett. They will also travel to tournaments at Barbers Hill (Aug. 16-18) and the Northwest Tournament near Dallas (Aug. 24-25). The Lady Bears’ first home game will be a District 22-4A game against Beaumont Central (Aug. 28).