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Volleyball: Midwest City making strides under new coach

Midwest City coach Tabitha McCray leads a practice. (Photo by Jeff Harrison)

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

A new coach and a new season have spawned a new sense of excitement for the Midwest City High School volleyball team.

“I’m excited to see where this team can go. We have a really good coach, a good team and I’m just ready to play and see where we can take it,” said senior Mackenzie Roy.

Midwest City will be led by its five seniors along with talented underclassmen. The seniors include Raven Jones, Valeria Ambrosio, Marshawna Anderson, and Laila Stewart.

Brianna Smith hits during a Midwest City volleyball practice. (Photo by Jeff Harrison)

The team has a new coach in Tabitha McCray this year. She brings experience as a club volleyball coach and former teacher and will look to provide stability for a program that has had a different coach each of the past four years.

“I’ve always had a passion for the sport of volleyball and getting the girls to the next level,” she said. “I always wanted to push them to be the strongest that they can be.”

McCray is a native of Owasso and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. She has coached club volleyball for several years with Premier, Charge and most recently H2 Oklahoma. She also taught elementary school from 2012-18 at Highland Park, Ridgecrest and Parkview.

The opportunity to return to the district in a new role drew her in.

“Midwest City High School is a feeder school for a lot of the schools that I’ve taught at so I thought it would be pretty neat to be able to come back and teach some of the students volleyball at a higher level,” she said.

McCray joined the team in the spring and held tryouts in May. The girls have continued to work out this summer through open gym and conditioning sessions.

McCray said she’s been impressed with her players commitment to getting better every day.

“They are coachable and are all willing to learn,” she said.

On the floor, the Bombers will be strong at outside hitter and setter. Roy and Cherysh Johnson will play outside hitter spots and Jade Singleton and Ambrosio will set.

“We have some really strong outside hitters and amazing setters that I think are really going to change this team this year,” McCray said.

Midwest City will host Blanchard for a varsity scrimmage on Aug. 3. They open the regular season Aug. 10 against the OKC Knights.

 

1 Comment

  1. Jerry on August 1, 2021 at 9:56 pm

    Naomi King is one of the best!!!!!

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