2022 Volleyball Season Preview

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            Conway, Ark. – With a new coach in place, Central Baptist College volleyball serves up the 2022 season tomorrow afternoon against Sterling and Baptist Bible at the College of the Ozarks Tournament in Point Lookout, Mo. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. tomorrow and live links are available on the web.

            "We are still a young team," said head coach Rick Brown, who inherits a team that went 11-16 overall last season and 4-5 in the AMC with their second straight trip to the AMC tournament. "I've been extremely pleased with the effort, the talent and the attitudes in practice so far and I couldn't be happier."

            The Mustangs return seven players for last year's team, including all-conference performers Molly Murphy and Mikayla Lawrence, who are joined by fellow junior Mallory Gossett. The rest of the returners are sophomores Sheridan Rogers, Kailee Walker, Kylah Shumate and Kenzie Hanks. "The juniors do a great job in terms of leadership," added Brown. "Those ladies did a great job leading the team in our classroom sessions and our off court type work we did."

            The newcomers feature sophomore Faith Stone, who transfers in from Belhaven and freshmen Madeline Freeman, Caitlyn Miller, Eliza Derryberry and Jaylin Rhoades, who all come from Arkansas, with Freeman from Hackett, Miller coming from Morrilton, Derryberry hailing from Cabot and Rhoades joining from Bauxite. "I've noticed in our preseason stuff that we have a lot of talent in these newcomers," added Brown. "They were recruited to play one position and we've been moving them around and they've been adjusting to those roles."

            The Mustangs were pegged to finish seventh in the American Midwest Conference's preseason poll after finishing sixth last season. Coach Brown said about the conference "I know at the top we are very competitive nationally. I think seventh is a fair placement for us because we're young and I'm new and implementing new systems."

            The home opener for CBC is at 2 p.m. on Sept. 6 against Oklahoma Wesleyan followed by another match later that night against Philander Smith. "I'm hoping with this schedule that we can get things ironed out," said Brown. "I'm hopeful that our heavy non-conference schedule will help prepare for our conference schedule later in the season. Those non-conference games are games that will help us get better."

            Be sure to come out and support the volleyball team all season long: "I like change. These girls are getting new systems and you will see a lot of different things," added Brown in wrapping up. "Hopefully it's exciting volleyball and I'm so pleased with these girls!"