The Riverview Sharks girls volleyball program posted an overall record of 8-11 and a league record of 3-9 last year, drawing attention to the challenges girls were facing last season.
But this is a new school year, a new season and, at the helm, a new head coach. Well, not exactly brand new. Sharks volleyball head coach Faye Graham has replaced former Riverview coach Kelli Russo who has decided to take a break from coaching and turned the scepter over to her assistant coach to lead the young team this year.
“It’s been a fairly easy transition for me since I have been with the team as the assistant coach,” Graham said, but after acknowledging the Sharks’ previous season’s performance said, “Of course, last year could have been better.”
Graham graduated from Savanna College of Arts and Design in Georgia, and has a degree in photography but she is grateful for the opportunity to coach the Sharks and have the hand in guiding the girls toward being successful both on and off the court.
“We have a young team and a long way to go, but we are also blessed with a lot of talent,” she said as she explained that one of the strengths of her team is the girls’ ability to play in any of the positions on the court.
“A lot of them are club players so they do have the chance to play the sport all year-round,” Graham said.
She did mention, however, that her team is very young with just 12 players, posting only two seniors, Erin Endres and Chelsey Pachoud and only three juniors, while the rest are sophomores and one freshman, but was upbeat about the girls’ willingness and commitment while she said that the hitters have stepped up their game this year.
As far as the season is concerned, Graham simply said that she and her team are going into each game the same as the other. “We focus on one game at the time,” she said.
For more information about the Sharks volleyball team, game schedule or roster, please visit www.maxpreps.com or www.fhsaa.com.
