By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

CEDAR BLUFF – The 2026 Cedar Bluff volleyball team will look a lot different than last year.

The Lady Tigers lost six seniors and return just one player who has meaningful varsity experience in sophomore setter/outside hitter Paityn Walker. Head coach Deidra Cox just has eight players on this season’s varsity roster, but that doesn’t mean the Lady Tigers’ expectations are low.

“Losing six seniors is a lot, but this group has taken to it and wants to do good,” Cox said. “They’re a fun group.”

Cox said the Lady Tigers utilized the summer to the fullest. She said the team worked out during June and July, and had several play dates to get them accustomed to the varsity game.

“Conditioning has been a big part of the summer and even at the beginning of practice, making sure we’re in game shape,” Cox said. “We also really focused on going to play dates to see who could do what, what all we had. I was very impressed this summer with them.

“Age-wise, we do have some older girls. Playing-wise, they’re still very young, but overall it was a good summer. It’s continued into the first couple of weeks of practice.”

The Lady Tigers have three seniors this season, including two who will play on the right side and back row in CeCe Davis and Piper Cromer. The other Cedar Bluff senior is middle hitter Marley Horton.

Joining Horton in the middle is sophomore Jakirah Brown.

Junior Makayla Kimmons will be one of the team’s defensive specialists, along with freshman Vana Martin.

Cox said Walker and freshman Marlee Timm will split the setter position. When one is setting, the other will play on the outside.

“They’ve really taken things head on and they’ve loved every second of it,” Cox said. “That’s the thing with this group. They want to be out here. They love it. They love competing. They love challenging each other. They want to get better, and they know they need to get better. That’s what they show up at practice to do.”

Another change during the offseason was Cedar Bluff moved down from Class 2A to 1A. The Lady Tigers compete in Area 15 along with Spring Garden, Gaylesville and Appalachian. They open the season Saturday in a tournament at Coosa, Ga.

“Going down to 1A is going to be a bit of a change for us, but it will be good for us this year, especially since we’re younger when it comes to experience,” Cox said.

“We need some games. We’ve had two full weeks of practice and we’re ready to play. I think playing would show us a whole lot more of what we’ve got and where we’re at. Once we get going, then we can base things a little bit better off of that. We’re super-excited that it’s finally game week.”