By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

HOGANSVILLE – A different voice never hurts.

Throughout the summer, Callaway head volleyball coach Christina Harris has been working with the players in preparation for a new season that begins in less than a month.

As valuable as those sessions at the school have been, Harris was happy to have her players presented with a different perspective this week.

Point University coach Amanda Jones, along with a few of her players, led the Callaway players through a three-day camp.

The camp kicked off on Monday and went through Wednesday, and the players received three hours of instruction time each day.

“I can tell this helps them,” Harris said. “It helps them to have college players there, and to get advice from a college coach. It helps me as a coach, because I see different things. It’s another point of view for me. And it helps them to hear from somebody else, especially another player.”

Harris led the junior-varsity team in 2016 while Heather Smith was the varsity head coach.

After Smith stepped down, Harris was promoted to head coach, and she has been working with the players throughout the summer.

“I have been here with them two to three times a week the whole summer,” said Harris, who was the Callaway Middle School volleyball coach in 2015. “LaGrange College is also hosting a camp, and I’ve handed out flyers for that. So they have different opportunities that way. And several of them still participate in club volleyball, the ones that are a little more advanced than the others.”

Harris said it’s helpful that she is a teacher at Callaway High so she’s able to see the players often.

“I work at Callaway, so I see the kids all the time,” Harris said. “They’re constantly coming back asking what about this, how about this? I’m right here, so that helps.”

The Lady Cavaliers are coming off a successful season that included the program’s first-ever state victory.

The goal now is to keep the good times going this fall.

“Heather’s done a really good job,” Harris said. “Hopefully we can repeat that, and keep going further each year. That’s what the goal is.”

Callaway will participate in a preseason scrimmage along with LaGrange and Troup on July 25 before opening the season in August.