Lady Trojans poised for quick start

The seniors on this year’s Trinity volleyball team will be the first to play four years under head coach Mia Langi, who enters her fourth year at the helm of the Lady Trojans.

Needless to say, they know what to expect.

That’s why Langi believes this group is prepared to begin quickly as Trinity faces its first regular season game against Duncanville August 11.

“We believe that, because this is our fourth year, the girls are used to the way I coach and my expectations and my standards,”Langi said. “At the strength and conditioning camp, our older girls are leading our incoming sophomores – because at the high school, we don’t have freshmen. It’s really neat to see that the girls are showing the underclassmen that when we’re in the weight room, you have to stay focused.”

Most of those returning players spent the summer in Trinity’s offseason strength and conditioning program to stay prepared for the rapidly approaching regular season.

Many also participated in a local high school summer league that played once a week with a 45-minute running clock. For Langi, it wasn’t about wins, losses or even points for her players, but continuing to touch the volleyball and stay sharp.

Both the strength and conditioning program and the offseason league shows quite a commitment, Langi said, because many of the girls also take summer classes to get ahead in their academics and also take SAT preparation courses while working summer jobs.

However, Langi believes her girls will be more than prepared to start practice Monday and hit the ground running with two scrimmages, Friday and Saturday.

The Lady Trojans graduated their 2014 all-district MVP in Darian Bucknor and first team all-district honorees Madison Ligon and Bri Palumbo, but return rising junior Margaret Dean and senior Elli Merchant, both second-team all district players.

“With the leadership we lost last year, we have girls that are ready to step up and take that role. We’re excited about this season,” Langi said.

The Lady Trojans were bounced from the playoffs in the first round last year by DeSoto and carry the burden of not reaching the second round of the playoffs since 1996 into this season.

However, what’s done is done, Langi said, and the program’s only focus is its next opponent as it works through the 2015 season.

“When we talk to them, we don’t look past the current match or tournament that we’re at,” Langi said. “We don’t really look into how far or if we’re going to make the playoffs. We just focus on the team camaraderie and work on the girls giving their best effort every day.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2015 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Lady Trojans poised for quick start."