The Oxford High School Volleyball team is setting its sights on a championship season with the arrival of new head coach Karen Yelverton, an accomplished coach and former player for the Ole Miss women’s volleyball team. Yelverton brings a wealth of experience to her new role.
“I was a basketball player from a very early age, from a family of sporty spice people.” Yelverton said. “So I grew up in sports. Basketball was my love. I am old enough that club was just getting started when I was in high school, but by my junior and senior year, my love for basketball changed, and volleyball was just so fun. I decided to walk on (as a volleyball player) at Ole Miss instead of taking a basketball scholarship.”
Yelverton knew her experience as a player would help her transition into a coach.
“About five years ago, a parent from another school asked me to help their daughter and some other girls prepare for school tryouts,” Yelverton said. “Over five years, I’ve trained about 375 players in the Oxford area. I love being the kind of teacher my college coach was for me.”
According to Yelverton, one of her main goals is to grow the game of volleyball in Oxford, and also the chemistry of the team. She is doing her part to ensure Oxford is known in the volleyball world.
“It is going to take them trusting each other, having positive attitudes, and believing in each other. We just needed them to have a little fun,” Yelverton said. “A team with six great players will be good. A team with great players that also play together—that is a dangerously good team. That team can accomplish anything.”
The team is made up of mainly underclassmen, with only two seniors returning this year, Liza Feltenstein and Lauren Ussery. Feltenstein believes Yelverton has been successful in creating a healthy team atmosphere.
“It’s only going to get better from here,” Feltenstein said. “Obviously, two seniors have big roles to fill, but it’ll be easier for her [Yelverton] to work with the team and bring us together after the seniors leave.”
Coming off of a first round playoff loss in last year’s season, Feltenstein believes one of the major causes of this was the team’s inability to work together, and cooperate as a team.
“I feel like we’ve become more molded together,” Feltenstein said when asked about how Coach Yelverton has helped improve the team. “Last year we argued a lot, and this year, we didn’t really argue as much,” Feltenstein said. “We just all fit really well together, and we play really well together, which is good.”
The volleyball team finished their first week undefeated and recently defeated the Tupelo Golden Wave. Feltenstein believes with the way the team is performing they can make a far run in the playoffs.
“We’re all playing really aggressively,” Feltenstein said. “Our energy is really high because we had a good first week of the season, and we have been beating some good teams. I feel like we’re all bought into the fact that we can go really far in the playoffs.”
Sophomore Grace Kiffin, who moved to Oxford and joined the team her freshman year midway through the season, believes the transition of coaches has been a smooth one.
“She’s made it more of a positive environment,” Kiffin said. “She helps us hold each other accountable and play more as a team.”
According to Kiffin, one of the reasons for the team’s positive transition can be attributed to Yelverton’s approachable leadership style and focus on teamwork.
“Coach helps us keep each other up, bringing each other back up if someone gets down,” Kiffin said. “She also challenges us and really wants us to get better.”
