For the fourth time in six years under coach Lindsay Herrin, the Lady Raiders volleyball program is in a different region.
Herrin and the girls love the way the new region 8-AAAAAA worked out, putting teams more like Habersham together, and providing the Lady Raiders a great shot to have a breakout season on the court.
The Lady Raiders have missed out on the state tournament since 2012, when they went 23-12. A 29-13 2013 season was somehow not enough to advance to state, and back-to-back 17-21 campaigns have left the girls hungry for more.
Senior Lainey Gosnell leads the charge as a fourth-year starter, while teammates Emily Jo Ariail and Natalie Thompson also anchor a group that includes seven seniors. The other five players on the varsity squad are all juniors who will get lots of experience in 2016.
With the region having familiar foes like Winder-Barrow and Apalachee, familiar 8-AAAA foes a few years back, as well as local rivals Gainesville, Herrin believes this could be “the year” for Habersham.
“I might say that every year, but that expectation never goes away,” says Herrin. “Its a goal that we always have and it’s always a goal that the girls talk about.”
In the new 8-AAAAAA, the chances are as good as they’ve been in recent memory.
“This is the best chance we’ve had in years,” says Herrin. “We have a four out of six chance.”
Although nothing is guaranteed, the girls have put in the hard work and return arguably their best team in terms of play-makers since 2012. The girls are also fresh off an unforgettable camp experience at Clemson University, where the Lady Raiders picked up some tips to help them throughout the season.
“We played some solid teams, and it was good to see that we could hang with those teams [at Clemson],” says Ariail. “We learned a lot of new techniques and are able to take that into this season and use it to our advantage.”
Gosnell knows the importance of her senior year, and what it would mean to lead her team to their first playoff appearance.
“I’ve been on this team for four years now,” says Gosnell. “I think we have a great chance this year, and we have set our goals really high.”
Herrin wants the girls to see the fruit of their labor.
“They put so much hard work into their volleyball careers,” Herrin says. “It would mean so much to them [to reach the playoffs].”
It couldn’t happen to a better group than the 2016 Lady Raiders, whose bond goes beyond the court.
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