MARC PRUITT Staff Reporter
The Calvary Day volleyball team is setting a new standard of success this season.
The Cougars are 13-1 (6-1 Piedmont Triad Athletic Conference) heading into this week's matches after having won just eight matches last season and have picked up several wins against teams they have not beaten in several years.
Calvary has a new coach, Kaylee Barriage, who is in her first season coaching high school volleyball, and it's also her first time coaching girls. Barriage has coached boys club teams at the Triad United Volleyball Academy based at RISE Indoor Sports the last three years.
She hit the ground running at Calvary and the results have shown the culture change already.
"One of the first things she told us when she got the job was, 'I'm here to win and I'm going to be with you every step of the way,'" said senior setter Adelaide Schultz, who has been playing on the varsity team since eighth grade. "Before, I think our attitude was just wanting to have fun, which was frustrating because the team dynamic wasn't really there. This is the first year where it feels like everyone has bought in. She has definitely held up her end of her promise and I think that we are doing a good job so far of holding up ours as well."
Barriage played high school volleyball for Gray's Creek in Cumberland County. She played 10 years of club volleyball for Sandhills Volleyball Club, and she played for five years at Carolina University in Winston-Salem.
"It was my college coach, Chelsea Jones, who told me about the job here," Barriage said. "I looked into the position and was a little nervous since I have never coached girls. But I love this group. They work hard and they are fun. They have a lot of energy and they are fun to be around."
Barriage said that she wanted to establish new standards and new goals for the program when she first met her players and parents. It started with a meet and greet in the spring afetr she was hired.
"I laid out my expectations to them. I like things a certain way. I told them they were representing themselves, their parents and their school. I let them know that if they had a good image and they worked hard, that they would be successful on the court," she said. "I wanted them to have a championship mindset on and off the court. I wanted to push them in the classroom and on the court and really build a championship program, not just a championship team. I wanted them to understand my expectations and the work that would be involved to make that happen. And they have all bought into that."
There were offseason workouts three days a week and conditioning programs that weren't part of the program in years past.
"She came in with a different approach, and that gave us all a different attitude," said senior Megan Ratledge. "My first impression of her was that she means business. Coach really has instilled this new work ethic in us. We started winning more and realized we could do that, and that gave us a lot of confidence. We are beating teams we haven't beaten before and there is just this great energy with our team."
Through the Cougars' first 14 matches, they have dropped just seven games.
Wins against High Point Christian, Wake Christian, two perennial state title contenders in the NCISAA, gave the team a huge boost, as did a win against Caldwell Academy.
"Beating High Point Christian was the most fun I've ever had playing volleyball," Schultz said. "Everyone was so excited. It proved to us that we could play with teams that play at a high level and that we could beat them."
Their only loss heading into this week's matches was a 3-1 setback against High Point Wesleyan. The team used it as a learning experience.
"Walking in the gym for practice after our first loss, we didn't feel like we lost," Schultz said. "We asked ourselves what we can learn from it and how can we grow from it. There wasn't a defeatist mindset at all, which hasn't been the case before. I think that shows that we are confident in our ability."
Madelyn Cooney, a senior outside hitter and defensive specialist, has also noted the change in the team dynamic this season.
"This year, we are very connected and we care about each other individually and collectively," Cooney said. "Coach has really pushed us and has higher standards for us. We have a much stronger work ethic this year and we have the same goal in mind. That builds a lot of confidence in us and we want to pass that down to the next generation and keep growing the program for after we leave. We really want to build this program up."
Barriage won't rest on the team's laurels just yet. She knows that they are capable of even more.
"I came in and wanted to find ways to better the team, better the girls on and off the court, and be better than the team was last year," Barriage said. "We have achieved that. Now my goals are different. We want to keep climbing the ladder. There are always things to grow from and improve on."
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