Nearly 66 percent of the New Madrid County Central volleyball team is made up of underclassmen this season. Along with new head coach Taylor Dace, the Lady Eagles are looking for their first winning season in two years, but know that challenges are bound to arise. Becoming a better team and trusting one another is one thing that Dace hopes her team accomplishes over the year. “My expectations for this season are for us, as a team, to flow better,” Dace said. “I’m not worried about the wins and losses right now. I want to get the potential that we have up to the highest point. So, I’m focusing on our program and not the wins and losses, as of right now.” So far during the summer, at tryouts, and through the first two weeks of practice, Dace said that two individuals have stood out the most to her. “The two that have stood out to me are Abigail Sindle, she is our senior setter, and then Mastajah Walker is a junior middle,” Dace said. “They both have had really good practices. Abby’s been to every single thing during the summer workout-wise and putting in a lot of time. She was varsity last year. Then Mastajah’s listening and trying to get extra reps before practice and during gym class. So, she’s putting a lot of extra work in.” Overall, the Lady Eagles do have a few players returning that have varsity experience. For Dace, her expectations of the returners are to serve as leaders for the younger girls, so that they can have a better understanding. “We have four that played varsity last year,” Dace said. “Then, we have a couple that was JV and is now up on varsity. So, our varsity has six sophomores on it, so we’re very young. My expectations for the returners are to be leaders for the younger girls. We have a really strong group of sophomores. A pretty strong group of seniors, so I’m looking to those seniors to coach up the sophomores and get them where they need to be so that they’re 100 percent ready by districts.” Roster: Abigail Sindle Sr. Colby Vaughn Sr. Jenny Duncan Sr. Allison Crider Sr. Mastajah Walker Jr. Bre’onna Long Jr. Madison Lane So. Isis Ducker So. Joycelynne Jackson So. Olivia Nelson So. Latavia Brooks So. Jalicia Johnson So. Shia Fountain So. Delaney Cooksey So. Carly Gremard Fr. Carly Kimball Fr. Erica Tittle Fr. Alyssa Hammock Fr. Schedule: Sept. 3 Gideon 6 p.m. Sept. 5 Hayti 6 p.m. Sept. 9 Senath-Hornersville TBD Sept. 10 Malden 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at East Prairie 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 at Charleston TBD Sept. 19 Oran TBD Sept. 23 at South Pemiscot 5 p.m. Sept. 24 Clarkton TBD Sept. 30 at North Pemiscot TBD Oct. 1 at Portageville 6 p.m. Oct. 3 at Cape Central TBD Oct. 7 Kennett 6 p.m. Oct. 8 Richland (Essex) 6 p.m. Oct. 10 at Caruthersville 4 p.m. Oct. 14 at Sikeston 7 p.m. Oct. 15 Scott City 6 p.m.