Pikesville Volleyball Team Looking for Aces

The volleyball team won 13 matches last season, but coach Tarese Smith’s group had a few challenges to overcome at the start of this year.

The Panthers have most of their starters back, but they’ve also got a bunch of players who moved up from junior varsity, and Smith said they’ll need some time to get used to life at the varsity level.

But so far, so good as Pikesville is off to a 2-1 start.

Four of the team’s six starters from last year are returning, which is good for any squad. But it’s the support that Pikesville can find from the younger players that could determine how well the Panthers fare this season.

“The jv kids are adjusting to the varsity level right now,” Smith said. “They’re getting used to the speed of the game.”

Smith said the team's working hard on learning the fundamentals and executing them.

Doing the basics effectively is a big reason Pikesville swept and beat in four sets.

The Panthers also lost to which is usually a very good team, but the Panthers fell in four sets.

Smith said she was delighted that Pikesville won a set against the Raiders, hopefully the sign of bigger and better things against tough competition.

“My team is pretty strong, but with consistency, we’ll do a lot better,” Smith said. “We’re a little inconsistent right now, and we’re still working on the basics.”

Pikesville’s starting lineup consists of the following six players: Olivia Askew, Michelle Shevtsova, Abigail Ficek, Shelly Harcel, Zhane Truesdale and Sameera Jordan. Smith said the team’s defense is the strong point at this time and should be consistent throughout the season.

Smith said she likes the attitude of the team so far this season, especially with the big mix between former junior varsity players and more experienced varsity athletes.

“They are very eager to win—every one of the kids,” Smith said. “They’ve displayed leadership when they are on the court. They do have the desire to win, and they all work hard.”

When the team’s on-court communication comes together will likely be when the team hits its stride. In other words, everyone has to learn to play as a group.

And the coach hopes it's sooner rather than later.

“It’s just a matter of us communicating more and more and more,” Smith said.