Manila’s first ladies volleyball team graduates

The long journey is about to come to an end for seven Manila seniors who have learned their way around a volleyball net over a nine-year span.

What started with 17 fourth grade girls in 2015 will end with seven of those girls finishing the journey they started nine years ago. They still have a few matches to go, but they are in the top of the conference so far this year.

Six of the seniors, Mary Scott Deaton, Emma Claire Jackson, Makayla Milligan, Kaydence Parson, Emily Pryor and Ryleigh Smith, have been together since the fourth grade. Senior Haelyn Smith joined them in the sixth grade.

Manila volleyball players celebrate senior night with parents.

Tracy Milligan, a former Manila teacher, started the volleyball program in 2015. The first year they played intramural games with the 17 girls learning the game. It was new to them but it became a favorite among some of the teammates. As they moved up in grades, the team started playing other schools in the fifth and sixth grades.

They reached the seventh grade level and added camps and played other teams even though they were not eligible for the conference tournaments. Their ninth grade year was their first to be in the conference and they were co-champions.

Again, in the 10th grade they were not eligible for the conference tournament, but they did play the other teams. They became part of the conference their junior year.

Their coach, Amy Wallace, joined the team last year. She had coached volleyball for several years and served as an assistant basketball coach for one year before coming to Manila. She came to Manila from Harrisburg.

The senior girls said they will miss volleyball but they still have three games to go as well as the district tournament and they have very high hopes they will be in state competition this year.

When asked what advice they wanted to give to the younger teammates they will be leaving, Makayla told them to never feel like underdogs.

“Just because we will be gone does not mean you can’t be successful next year,” Makayla said.

Emily’s advice was to never underestimate what they can do.

Emma Claire said they will miss their teammates.

Several girls said they fell in love with volleyball and expressed their appreciation to the school for allowing the team to be part of the sports curriculum at MHS.

“We sort of made it a volleyball school,” Makayla said.

So far they have had a great year and as of Wednesday, the Lady Lions have a 14-4 overall record with a 12-1 in conference.

Coach Wallace said these girls have a heavy influence on all of the team members and have shown great leadership.

“They have done well, worked hard and had fun,” she said. “They keep it light. They have come a long way and I am proud of them.”

They have three matches remaining, Cave City, Hoxie and CRA, before the standings will be finalized.

The Junior High District will begin Thursday. The team has a 6-7 record. Coach Wallace said there is more talent on the team than the record shows.

“We have very good athletes on the junior high team, also,” Coach Wallace said.

The Senior High District Tournament will be held in Walnut Ridge starting Saturday, Oct. 14. The state tournament will be held in Valley Springs.

“Our goal is to bring home some volleyball hardware for the trophy cases,” Emma Claire said.