Bucs balancing talent, experience

The present and the future are simultaneously bright for the Hoover High School volleyball program.

The Bucs have a strong mix of youth and experience on the 2018 roster, and both should combine to make a strong team this fall.

Mackenzie Martin, Amiyah King, Caroline Raybon, Bayley Thornton and Brooke Hoven compose a senior class that has been through the highs and lows of recent years. Rya McKinnon, who started as an eighth-grader last season, and Gabbi Essix are two younger players that have as much talent as anyone in the state. 

“If we can get some things straight and get healthy, we’re going to have a really neat balance, to have some great senior leaders to go with some incredibly talented freshmen,” said Hoover coach Chris Camper. “And our seniors can play. They’re really talented and they’ve been in some big matches in their careers.”

Hoover hosted the inaugural Birmingham area high school volleyball media day on Aug. 9, with Camper, Martin and King representing the Bucs. Martin and King were part of last year’s team, which qualified for the Class 7A state tournament but fell to eventual champion McGill-Toolen.

“Last year, it showed me what we have. This year, it can be so much better,” said King, who Camper called one of the top setters in the state.

Martin and some of her teammates have played in high-level matches in the past years, whether during last postseason or during Hoover’s 2016 run to the state final. They have the necessary experience to relay to the younger players who will be asked to take another step forward this year.

“It’s a way to motivate the younger kids that haven’t been on the court as much, or played JV and is now on varsity,” Martin said. “It can really bring us together as a team, because everybody’s seen what we have this year.”

The situation Hoover finds itself in is one not seen very often. Typically, younger players show potential and supplement a solid cast of already-proven players. The Bucs have those older players that have been established, but the likes of McKinnon and Essix will be key cogs to the team as well. 

“When your two young players are going to get the ball when it matters, it is a different dynamic,” Camper said. 

And while they have great potential, Camper said there is still work to be done and lessons to be learned from the elder statesmen on the team.

“These girls, they put them in their place too, physically, and that gives them something to push to,” he said. “Their upside is unlike anything we’ve seen here. But right now, they’re not there. These girls are still better passers and more consistent and that keeps them humble and gives them something to shoot for.”

Hoover’s greatest point of emphasis this season will be the ability to excel at ball control in pressure moments.

“When it’s 24-all and you’re serving the ball, it doesn’t matter who can hit,” Camper said.

If the Bucs can find their way in those big moments, the sky is virtually the limit this fall, because the pieces are in place.

“The level of excitement we have as a staff is probably the most we’ve had, because they really get along well,” Camper said. That’s the thing about this group that’s most exciting.”