MORRISTOWN, TN – The Walters State volleyball team is coming off their best season in program history, which culminated in their first ever appearance in the NJCAA National Tournament, as they look keep the momentum going in the fall of 2021. 

It was a strange season for Walters State as they participated in a spring season for the first time, as opposed to the normal fall season, due to the COVID pandemic. The Lady Senators, with almost a year to prepare, finished the season 18-3, 12-0 in the conference, and won the Region VII Tournament as well as the NJCAA Southeast District B Championship to advance to the NJCAA DII Tournament.  

Now, with some returning players from last season's team, as well as 10 freshmen, the Lady Senators are looking to build off that success.  

"It's been a good preseason," Walters State volleyball coach Megan Blaylock said. "I think the freshmen are starting to buy in, and I have seen improvements in the three weeks we've been practicing. I'm pretty excited.  

"It's a really good thing to have a strong upper class like we have that knows what it takes to be successful. Five of our returning sophomores saw significant playing time last season and that'll be really good in the long term for leadership and mentoring the freshmen."  

The returning sophomores from last season are Halyn Long, Mercedes Collins, Lydia Buchanan, Parker Hurd, Raenah Barton, Morgan Barkley, Mackenzie Sweigart and Ashtan Vance.  

Buchannan and Sweigart were two of the sophomores that made a significant impact last season and Blaylock expects them to lead the charge this season. 

"Lydia Buchannan played a significant amount of time last year, and she'll be our go-to this season on the floor," Blaylock said. "She's been performing really well in practice and was great in our scrimmage. We'll look to her to run our offense and be the steady we need on the court this year. 

"Kenzie Sweigart on the right side, too. She's done well in our scrimmages. She'll have to step up in ways that our middle's performed last year offensively. I think she'll be able to do it. I think we'll look to both of them a lot."  

As for the newcomers for Walters State, the Lady Senators bring in Mattison Rowland, Takiya Curry, Faith Heskett, Madyson Greenlee, Brittany Kitchens, Jordan Moore, Abby Blakenship, Sydney Keck, Bella Webb and Hannah Freeman.  

This is the second year Blaylock has brought in a larger-than-normal freshman class, something that she sees as a massive benefit. 

"I really like it, especially right now during COVID," Blaylock said. "You have no idea what is actually going to happen or if we are going to have to quarantine. I like having this many bodies around. It helps in the long run because it keeps everyone healthy and we aren't wearing anyone down. We play 26-28 regular season matchups so the more people we have the better."  

The schedule looks different for Walters State this year with some COVID restrictions lifted. Last season, the Lady Senators played all three conference opponents four times as they made up 12 of their 21 matches.  

This season, Walters State has 27 matches, including three invitationals. The season starts on Sept. 3 when Walters State takes on Spartanburg Methodist and Itawamba in the Walters State Invitational. The Lady Senators have two more matches scheduled the next day. 

The conference schedule starts on Sept. 7 when Roane State comes to Morristown.  Later in the month, Walters State will travel to Spartanburg for the Spartanburg Methodist Invitational. They are scheduled to play four matches in that.  

The Lady Senators open up October in Hickory, NC as they compete in the Catawba Valley Invitational. The regular season concludes on Oct. 25 against Cumberland University JV. 

For Blaylock, she is excited to hit the road again and gain some valuable experience for her team.  

"I think you take advantage of being able to travel," Blaylock said. "You go through a COVID year and you realize how good you had it just being able to have a diverse schedule. It's so hard to play the same teams so many times and be successful. It's just going to be great to travel and get away from our home gym. That'll help us in the postseason as well." 

As for goals this season, Blaylock doesn't want to compare last season's success to this year's team, putting that pressure on them. Instead, Blaylock wants to take what they can control and go from there. 

"I think our goals are realistic," Blaylock said. "I don't want to compare this year's team to last year's team. I don't think that would be fair. I think we have a really high ceiling and are no where close to touching it. I think our main goal is to win the Region again and just go from there. Anything after that would be icing on the cake."  

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics