With eight seniors on the varsity roster, there is an air of expectation for the Muskogee High volleyball as they begin their 2023 season in early August. Leading the way for the Lady Roughers will be junior Reagan Essex and senior Alexis Rodriguez, known affectionately around campus as A-Rod.

“We lost a couple of key players from last year, but we’ve gotten a lot of reps in for those coming back this summer. Many of them play club ball already and we also played this summer in the Catoosa Summer Series and went to a tournament in Branson where we won eight of our 10 games,” said head coach TeAna Tramel. “One nice thing this season is that I don’t feel like we have to go back and teach a lot of basics because most of these girls have experience.”

In addition to Essex and A-Rod, Tramel talked about some of her other returning senior players.

“Ellie Ficklin is the setter for us and is a solid player. She’s the quarterback who goes out and does her job to make the hitters look good and goes all out on defense. She plays multiple sports and is also on the dance team. Khloie Doughty is stepping into the libero position this year after being a backup there last year. She’s a hard worker who will do whatever is asked of her. She’s our rah-rah leader and the team clown who likes to have a good time and keep everybody loose. Sarah Scheihing is moving up from a backup role as well and taking over the middle position vacated by A-Rod who we’re moving to outside hitter. Bailee Russell is moving from the right side to the middle this year and was named to the all- tournament team in Branson.”

Other members of the varsity squad are seniors Megan Rainbolt, Nizhoni Mason, and Mikaela Louis along with juniors Jaelle Baker, Kensington Moore and Ciara Trembley.

“With eight seniors and a ton of experience behind them, we’re looking forward to this season,” said Tramel.