North Callaway’s volleyball seniors have gone into uncharted territory over the last few years.

The Ladybirds have only played five games and are already doing something unprecedented as they are 5-0 after defeating Mexico (25-11, 25-11, 25-8) on Wednesday at home for their best start in program history. 

North Callaway head coach Andrew Klein said the Ladybirds have done well “staying in the moment” and credits his players and coaching staff for keeping this early roll going. The varsity team has lost only two sets so far, including a four-set victory the previous night for the program’s first five-set match win over the Lady Hornets. North Callaway returns to Fulton on Saturday for the Melissa Hoerber Invitational.

Mexico at North Callaway Photo Gallery

“I have eight seniors right now, and I think they’re still locked into what the next task is, which is competing on Saturday against some really good schools,” Klein said. “We can celebrate a win for a few hours and then be locked into being 1-0 that next day.”

Klein said volleyball is such a mental sport, and his seniors do well leading the Ladybirds to the next point, next set and next match. Some of those seniors led North Callaway in key statistical categories against Mexico with Alex Craighead having 11 kills, Lauren Pezold having 19 assists and Peyton Boulware having 12 digs.

Mexico head coach Tami Sells said North Callaway has “tall and strong hitters,” and it was tough for Mexico to counter them on Wednesday. The Lady Bulldogs had kills come from Caroline Fisher, Anna Isgrig, Camy Blackburn, Dylann Grace Hunt, Julia Goerne and Charley Jackson, but North Callaway eventually pulled away in every set.

“We had a hard time adapting our defense to their swings,” Sells said. “Our blockers need to do better at framing it into their side of the court. They were doing a pretty decent job of getting touches sometimes. We had to shift our defense back a little bit for coverage, so that was a struggle playing different defense than we normally do.”

Klein said the play at the net has been “a focal point” for North Callaway. He said the defense in the back row has been good with veteran defensive specialist and the libero Boulware, and the younger front court with girls like junior Anna Shryock and sophomores Ainsley Reinhard and Clara Russell.

“There’s a learning curve that we’ve really been attacking and communicating at the net,” Klein said. “It’s really paying off right now.”

Klein said the younger girls have shown leadership as well and have impacted the team already like Reinhard, Russell and junior Makayla Rothermich.

“I have 12 girls who are super competitive and understand that our goal is not to just win in September but to win in October,” Klein said. “They’re competing so hard for playing time and spots, but it’s a healthy competition that’s really helped our program take that next step.”

Mexico’s varsity has won one of its first four matches, but its C team and junior varsity are undefeated through Wednesday. They squads defeated North Callaway to move to 2-0 and 4-0, respectively. 

“They’re a hardworking and coachable group,” Sells said. “They work well together and never give up.”

Klein said the communication can be better and that should improve with so many matches remaining. Better talking can prevent girls from colliding with one another.

“We’ve got to cross better and not crash,” Klein said. “There were some collisions. It’s a chemistry thing, and we’re getting better every single day.”