Poplar Bluff seniors, from left, Jamie Fritts, Grace Griffith, Kaci Tapp and Cierra Francisco will lead the Lady Mules volleyball team this fall. (Brian Rosener/DAR)

By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

Just when the Poplar Bluff volleyball team was rolling along through preseason workouts under new coach Mike Berry, a horse named Sugar came along and tried to take out half of the starting lineup.

A trio of Lady Mules suffered what appear to be minor injuries over the weekend when Madison Gullett and Kaci Tapp were thrown from the sweet-sounding horse that was being led by Tori Williams.

"I've got a hit out on Sugar," Berry joked before adding. "We're going to still look at (replacing them) because we're not sure what's going to happen.

"(The season) is coming up awful quick."

Poplar Bluff travels to Puxico on Sept. 2 to open the season but that's not a lot of time when a new coach is putting in a new system. What's made the transition easier, Berry said, is the fact that the players know him because he was the team's assistant coach.

"I'm really excited to have Coach Berry and (assistant coach Megan) Moe this year because they really know what they're talking about and they're working us hard," senior Jamie Fritts said.

It also helps that Peters Gym has cooled off with the addition of air conditioning.

"Last year it was like we were drenched in sweat, where this year we're getting more stuff done and we're not dying of heat exhaustion," Fritts said. "We can actually keep running and do other stuff."

Fritts is one of four returning seniors and led the team in kills last year with 176 and had 50 blocks. Tapp, also a senior, led the team in assists last season with 267 while fellow setter, junior Abby Ivie, had 218. Cierra Francisco was second on the team in digs with 134 while fellow senior Grace Griffith was third with 67 digs and fourth in kills with 77.

Williams led the team with 53 blocks and was the third-leading hitter with 101 kills as a sophomore. Gullett also saw varsity playing time last season while fellow juniors Blake Talkington, Staci Callahan and Kara Persons move up from a junior varsity team that was 17-10-4 under Berry.

Fritts and Williams will anchor the middle with Callahan able to step into that position or play the right side along with Gullett, Berry said. Tapp and Ivie will set while Talkington and Griffith will be outside hitters. Francisco looks to be the libero with Persons backing up and being the role of utility player that can fill in where needed.

The Lady Mules had to replace a starting outside hitter and a defensive specialist from a team that finished 15-15-2.

After giving up 330 points with serve-receive errors last from season, Berry switched from a four-man set to a three-man set trying to create less confusion on who takes the serve. There will be backup options as well as a few new offensive and defensive wrinkles.

Berry also wants to change the mindset of his team.

"We've just been pushing them to constantly play aggressive and we're working on don't hold anything back," he said. "Go out and play every ball as hard as you can. If you make a mistake, now's the time to do it in practice.

"If we lay back and keep playing the same old volleyball, that's the same results you're going to be getting."