Replacing eight graduating seniors from a strong 2021-2022 season in which the Fredericktown volleyball squad went 20-5 and 9-3 (third-place finish) in KMAC play, making a run to the district semifinals, is an issue the Freddies’ new volleyball coach, Cassandra Vaughn, has addressed head on.
To tackle the team needs and to build a team bond, Vaughn has brought three core values to the team this year: effort, "team-ness" and attitude (ETA).
Vaughn’s first year as Fredericktown head coach is her fourth year coaching in the district. Previously, she was the Freddies’ JV coach in 2020 and 2021 and a seventh-0grade coach in 2019.
Vaughn said, “We try to relate anything in practice back to at least one of our core values. In addition, our athletic department has a slogan: ‘It’s not about me.’ We like to award a gold ball each week to an athlete that has exhibited this attitude effectively in the previous week."
The “T” in ETA relates to Vaughn’s team-first coaching philosophy.
“While I am trying to develop many players in different roles in the program, I want to build and develop the best team I can,” she said. “This philosophy comes from many of the coaches who have influenced me over my years of playing and coaching."
The Freddies have three returning letter winners from last year, Grace Sipes (senior), Julia Partington (junior) and Jill Bouton (junior). Vaughn said she is looking forward to see them step up as leaders this year on the varsity squad.
Despite the loss of eight seniors from last year’s successful team, Vaughn is optimistic about the 2022 Freddies.
“After losing eight seniors last year, we have quite a few new faces on our varsity squad this season. I am looking forward to watching the team develop this year. They competed well in summer league and have put in hard work over the summer. With our ETA focus, I expect us to compete at a high level.”
