BANGS – Coming off a third-place district finish a year ago, the Bangs Lady Dragons volleyball program is looking to take another step forward during the second season of Colleen Westfall’s second stint as head coach.

Preseason practice began Friday with 23 players reporting, as the Lady Dragons look to reach the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

“Overall for the first day I thought the girls did really well,” Westfall said after the conclusion on Friday’s initial workout. “One thing I am going to have to teach them this year is to think for themselves on the floor and figure it out, because they’re going to have to be scrappy this year. The main goal is to get the point.”

Westfall will be relying on several new faces to shoulder the load in 2025.

“I lost five seniors and most of it was my height, so we’re short and scrappy,” Westfall said.

Returnees to keep an eye on for Bangs include seniors Justice Baker, Cloey Petty and Kylee Byler, along with sophomores Cameryn Harmon and Ashlynn Sliger. New additions to the varsity this year who are expected to make a considerable impact are Stormy Stringer and Cricket Caulkins.

Bangs opens the season at Strawn on Tuesday, Aug. 12, while district action commences Sept. 23 at home against Hamilton.

Before the start of district, Westfall said, “I really want to see a couple of key things. One is going to be communication, on the defensive end specifically. We have to have that, not having the height we had last year. The second thing is because we’re so young in the front row, all my tall ones are sophomores, they’re going to have to focus on execution and be able to put it to the floor.”

The Lady Dragons finished with a 16-19 overall record a year ago, including a 3-5 mark against league foes. Bangs will again compete against Hamilton, Hico, Coleman and De Leon in District 5-2A.

“District is going to be tough,” Westfall said. “All of us in district lost quite a few seniors across the board. We’re all going to be a little young, but looking at the JV teams from last year and what’s coming back, it’s going to be just as competitive or maybe even a little bit more.”

As for the potential of the Lady Dragons in 2025, Westfall said, “This team can be really good. The chemistry is going really well. They’ve been up here quite a bit this summer as well. I’m really expecting a lot from this group and I have a lot of high hopes because they have that dog mentality within them. The girls are changing the culture of this entire program with that mentality and bringing it to every sport.”