Boiling Springs Girls VolleyballAfter a heart-breaking five set loss in the second round of the 5A playoffs last year, the Boiling Springs volleyball team is looking for redemption in 2022 and have put in the work this offseason to accomplish that goal. "The team has worked hard since our final game at Wade Hampton last year," said Bulldogs head coach Allyson Elliot. "The team has that desire to come back and finish what we consider 'unfinished business.' A lot of the team has played on travel teams, lifted in the weight room, attended camps, and everything they can to get faster and stronger for this season." The Boiling Springs volleyball team will be led by All-Region player Cloe Wood who led the team in several stats last season including kills (270), aces (35), digs (312), and serves received (225). As a senior in her fourth year on varsity, Wood said that s "We want to take care of the unfinished business from last year and that is our number one motive this year is to finish what we started last year," said Wood. "We want to keep our new culture going as well." As a senior group Wood says that her and the other seniors hope to bring a great leadership to this year's team. "Our goal as seniors this year is to have great leadership and just be there for everyone on the team," said Wood. "We want to be the rock and the people the younger players can lean on throughout the season." The Bulldogs will also look to get key contributions from juniors Karson Browning and Charlotte Hutchins. Browning will be a key on the frontline of the Bulldogs attack as she really impressed last year as a sophomore with 144 kills (a 38.9% kill rate) along with 58 block kills. Hutchins is an outside hitter for the Bulldogs who has impressed the coaches this summer as a six-rotation player. "Karson has worked hard this offseason and plays with such a high energy that makes her a threat on the court every match," said Elliot. "Charlotte has really looked strong throughout the summer as a six-rotation player. She may be one of our greatest surprises and threats this season." The Bulldogs will look to two players in the setter area of the team as senior Makayla Furrey has had a good summer for the team as well as junior Grace Shepherd who has stood out on setting up the outside and moving the ball. On the defensive side the Bulldogs will look to seniors Morgan Hammett and Emma Beheler to lead the way. "Morgan is quick and athletic," said Elliot. "Emma has been smart reading serves, serving, and seeing the defense. Both of these young ladies are communicating with our blockers and hitters, and I expect them to continue to improve the more they play together." Boiling Springs will also look to get contributions throughout the long season from Olivia Shirley, Lauren Kusterer, Macy Bagwell, Emily Poore, Zion Hughes, and Emma Grace Potter. Elliot said that with the recent success of the program there's another group of younger players wanting to earn their spot on the team. "For every person I mention, there's another group of younger girls working hard on the heels of those girls to be the next person," said Elliot. "The exciting thing about having success is that kids want to be a part of the program and buy in and work hard." The 2022 season will see the Bulldogs going back to a familiar region that they've been away from for the last two years as they'll be going back to Region II-5A with local teams Byrnes, Dorman, Gaffney, and Spartanburg. The change will be a welcome relief to the Bulldogs as they've done a lot of traveling the last few seasons in their previous region. "We're thankful with the region to be closer and not have to do the traveling we've done in the past few years," said Elliot. "I felt like the competition in last year's region was very tough but I'm glad to be back closer to home. I expect our team to be fighting for a region championship this year." With unfinished business still on their mind from last season, the Bulldogs goals this year include hanging some banners when the season comes to an end. "I expect us to be fighting for a top region finish, a playoff spot, and a deep playoff run," said Elliot. "We will be playing to put a state championship banner up on the wall at the end of the season. Our girls know the work it's going to take to get to where we want to go and I'm excited to see where this group is going to go this year." Boiling Springs will kick off their regular season at the Daniel High tournament on August 20th before hosting their first home match on August 23rd against Blacksburg. Bulldogs Volleyball Looking To Add A Sprinkle Of Extra Knowledge To Coaching StaffThe Boiling Springs volleyball team will be adding a familiar face to the Bulldogs coaching staff this year as they hired a school record holder and former player, Abbey Sprinkle to this year's team. Sprinkle, who graduated from Gardner-Webb in 2020 after a successful career there, was a five-year setter for the Bulldogs (2012-2016) while earning three All-Region honors and a North-South selection. She is also the school record holder in most assists during her career at Boiling Springs. She says that the opportunity to return to her alma mater to coach is kind of surreal and one of divine intervention. "It's kind of surreal because I never thought I'd be back here coaching, but it was kind of a random circumstance that led to it," said Sprinkle. "They were in Charleston for a camp, and I just happened to be down there for vacation. It was a God thing that we just happened to run into each other, and she told me if I was ever interested in coaching to reach out to her. So, about a week later I reached out to her and here I am." Sprinkle said that she looks forward to sharing her knowledge and experience with the current players to help them get better themselves. "I saw a lot of playing time in high school and in college but also dealt with injuries," said Sprinkle. "I'm really excited to help these girls with the experiences I learned to not only help them on the court but off the court as well. I've seen a lot of improvement in the short time that I've been here and I'm looking forward to this season." She said that while it's been a while since her playing days for the Bulldogs, she has told her fellow coaches it doesn't seem like that long ago. "I was telling them coming in that it only felt like two years ago that I was playing here but it's been more like five or six years now," said Sprinkle. "It's crazy walking in here but it's an awesome experience getting to come back here and invest in the lives of these girls." Sprinkle said that with her playing career coming to an end so recently that it might be tough to not want to be a part of the match in big moments of games. "It's going to be tough," said Sprinkle with a laugh. "I used to love being the last server on the line in a match, if a set was 24-24 as I wanted to be the last server on the line because I wanted to put the serve in the court but I'm going to trust these girls now. It's their time and I know they're going to do great." Boiling Springs Boys VolleyballAfter four seasons as a club sport, all of which Boiling Springs had a team represented, 2022 will mark the first official season of the boys' volleyball season in the state of South Carolina. "We are excited about having boys' volleyball finally as a sanctioned sport in the state and are looking forward to this season," said Bulldogs head boys volleyball coach Rachel Hyatt. "Hopefully this season will bring new perspectives to boys' volleyball and make more boys interested in the sport over the next few years." The Bulldogs last season, in the final year of the club sport season, won a home playoff game before eventually falling to Woodmont in the playoffs. Boiling Springs will have eight seniors competing this year in the first official season, so they should be one of the more experienced teams this season. Two of those seniors will be Tucker Walters and Osiel Thompson who the Bulldogs will look to lead the team while also getting key contributions from junior Mark Zdanevich. While the first season will not have a playoff or state champion named, the Bulldogs will have a pretty intense schedule as they'll have fifteen matches in the first season including matches against two of the final four teams last year, Dorman and Woodmont. Boiling Springs will kick off their inaugural season on August 22nd in a home match against Clover that begins at 6:00 PM. Boiling Springs Girls GolfThe Boiling Springs girls golf team is looking forward to the upcoming 2022 season as they will look to build on their experience from last season, where they finished 15th in 5A at the state tournament. “We are very excited for this season,” said Bulldogs head coach Macy Tate. “All of our returning starters got a lot of experience last season and have been working hard this summer. We are expecting to see a lot of growth throughout the season, especially with our younger players and we can’t wait to get the season started.” Boiling Springs will have four returning starters from last season that will be headlined by senior golfer Madison Dixon, who was All-Region last season. She will be joined by junior Sophia Leso, sophomore Bella Greene, and freshman Ryanna Douglas. Dixon, one of the most decorated girls golfers ever at Boiling Springs, will look to lead the Bulldogs back to the state tournament which has been a destination the Bulldogs have been used to reaching during her time with the school. She has been a member of the program for six years and is the last player that ever played for the combined Boiling Springs-Chesnee golf team. Coach Tate said that her impact on the program has been incredible especially in the last few years. ”Madison is one of the most decorated players in our school’s golf history and coming into her senior year she is expecting to do big things,” said Tate. “She has been through three different head coaches during her time here and through all those changes she has played golf at the highest level while also being an awesome teammate. She is always willing to help and guide the younger, less experienced golfers, and always does it with a smile on her face. I am thankful I get to coach her for one more season.” Boiling Springs will also be returning to seeing more familiar competition as after two years in a region with Rock Hill area schools in Region III-5A they move back to a region with mostly local schools. The Bulldogs are joining Region II-5A where they will compete against Byrnes, Dorman, Gaffney, and Spartanburg. After two years away it’s a nice change for Coach Tate and her team they’ll also continue to play a tough tournament schedule this year. “We are back in a region with teams from the area, so we are looking forward to competing with other Spartanburg County schools,” said Tate. “We’ve got a full schedule with both matches and tournaments where we’re looking forward to competing with some of the best teams in the state.” The Boiling Springs girls golf schedule will kick off on August 23rd in a home match against Gaffney at Woodfin Ridge a week before competing in the Lady Rebels Invitational at River Falls on August 30th. Boiling Springs SwimmingDespite a strong showing at the state meet last season, the Boiling Springs swim team has put a lot of work in this offseason to improve on that performance as they move into a new region this year. The Bulldogs men finished third in the region meet last year while the girls finished in fourth while both teams had top ten finishers in the state meet. After two seasons competing against Fort Mill area schools, the Bulldogs will once again be returning to Region II-5A where they will compete against Byrnes, Dorman, Gaffney, and Spartanburg. "We are looking forward to competing closer to home this year and swimming against our hometown schools," said Bulldogs head coach Lanie Peden. "The kids have worked hard the first couple of weeks and are looking forward to our first meet this year against Byrnes. Our team bonded a lot this summer as we had 12 athletes work with our new strength program and they've carried that momentum into the start of this season. We have ten new swimmers this year and I look forward to seeing how they progress through the season." On the men's side of the team the Bulldogs return three All-Region swimmers as Miles Humphreys, Ashton Threadgill, and Garrett Watson all return to help lead the Bulldogs attack off a team that went 8-6 last season. They'll be joined by fellow returnees Zain Nanoua, Gabe Olson, and Aaron Sprouse along with newcomers Zachary Nanoua and Landon Sapounas. On the women's side of the team the Bulldogs will be led by All-Region swimmer Morgan Greenlee from a team that finished the season with a 9-5 record last year. She will be joined by fellow returnees Camryn Duncan, Laney Moore, Reagan Shaw, Sam Murray, Sarah McMahon, Kendra Little, Maci Lane, Elizabeth Hardy, Anne Hauser, and Diya Channa. The women's team will also look to get help from newcomers Bailey Riordan and Cerys Ewing. Boiling Springs will have five seniors this season who Coach Peden says is a strong group that she expects to see a lot from this year. "The senior group is a very strong group and I expect a lot out of them this year," said Peden. "All five of the seniors, Ashton Threadgill, Garrett Watson, Morgan Greenlee, Camryn Duncan, and Sarah McMahon, have the capability of doing really well this year." Boiling Springs will kick off their season on August 16th when they face Byrnes at the Middle Tyger River YMCA at 6:00 PM. Some other dates of note are the Bulldogs senior night on September 20th at the Middle Tyger River YMCA and the Region II-5A meet at Converse College on October 1st. Boiling Springs Girls TennisThe Boiling Springs girl's tennis team will look to make a return to the 5A playoffs again this season after making a strong run last season that saw them finish second in Region III-5A and host a home playoff game in many years. In their feat to return to the playoffs, the Bulldogs will be seeing a lot of new things on that road to success this season as the offseason has seen numerous changes from last year. After the graduation of five seniors last year that included the graduation of long-time number one player Madison Ball, the Bulldogs will be led by returning All-Region player Kaiden Price. She will be joined by fellow returnees Victoria Leonard and Annalynn Faile. They will also look to get key contributions from players like Emerson Horton and Allie Hollifield. Another change the Bulldogs will see this year is in leadership of the team as long-time coach Jill Cooke retired after last season as coach and will be replaced by new coach Anna Burrell this season. This season the Bulldogs will also be returning to a more familiar region where they will face local teams Byrnes, Dorman, Gaffney, and Spartanburg after spending the last two seasons traveling to the greater Fort Mill area for region play. Boiling Springs will kick off their season in a road match on August 24th at Greer Middle College before hosting their first home match of the year against Broome on August 29th. Boiling Springs Cross CountryThe 2022 season for the Boiling Springs cross country team will be a year of rebuilding for both the boys and girls' teams but that doesn't mean that the team's goals will be different as they look to qualify for the state meet.
"We have a young team with only one senior boy and three senior girls this year," said Bulldogs director of cross-country operations Scott Lucking. "We are building towards the future with our young athletes. They're each looking to improve on their rankings from last year and will look to make a run at qualifying for the state meet." The athletes won't be the only new faces this year as Drew Thomas takes over as head coach of the boys' team and Allie Leavitt takes over as the head coach of the girls' team. Both teams will look to improve on their fourth-place finishes at region from last year as they enter a new region against Dorman, Spartanburg, Gaffney, and Byrnes. They also want to improve on their third and seventh place finishes at the Spartanburg County meet last season. After losing five of their top seven runners from last season the boys' team will look to count on returners Jake Sapp, Andrew Cooler, Jayden Adams, and Thomas Glover while also getting help from newcomers Harrison Grice, Easton Tipton, Xavier Goodman, and Riley Alford. The girls' team after losing three starters last season will return All-Region senior runner Gabriela Sanchez along with fellow returnees Alyssa Skory, Navy Turner, Madelyn Sewell, Ashlyn Godfrey, and Addison Sapp, who they hope will lead the young Bulldogs team. They will also look to get help from newcomers Ainsley Steadings, Gabrielle Eison, Bailee Williams, Sophia LeBrun, and Bella Johnson. Boiling Springs cross country will kick off their season at Spartanburg High School against the Vikings at 6:00 PM. They will also compete at the Eye Opener Classic at Milliken on September 3rd while the region meet will be held at Dorman High School on October 19th at 5:00 PM. Comments are closed.
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