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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

During a season where nothing is guaranteed, Troup High volleyball coach Anna Andrews wanted to make sure to give her seniors a special night.

Before Tuesday’s varsity match against Shaw, and following a junior-varsity match between those two schools, Troup’s five seniors were recognized during a ceremony in the school’s new gymnasium.

Each senior was introduced by Andrews, and the players and their families walked onto the court while being serenaded by the Troup High drum corps.

The senior ceremony was originally going to be on Oct. 1, but Andrews decided to push that up a month.

“Just in case, I wanted to make sure our seniors got honored the way they deserved to be honored, and not lose that experience as seniors,” Andrews said.

The Troup seniors are Amauriya Brown, Savannah Coker, Victoria Finley, Macy Jeter and Landen Sheets.

Before the match, Coker showed off her vocal talents by singing the Star Spangled Banner.

“We’re blessed to have her,” Andrews said of Coker. “She’s got a lot of energy, and she keeps us grounded.”

Andrews, who has been with the volleyball program since 2018 but is in her first season as head coach, appreciates the skill level the seniors bring to the volleyball court.

“They’re all so talented,” Andrews said. “It’s nice to focus on the strategy and the game play, because the skill is already there. So that’s been nice in my first year as head coach to not have to focus on all the little stuff, and focus on the big picture.”

Unfortunately for Troup (2-4), it was unable to come away with a win on senior night, with Shaw taking a straight-sets win, 25-12, 25-20 and 25-16.

“I wish we’d won, but we’ll keep pushing and getting better, and do all we can do,” Andrews said.

Andrews does believe that playing high-quality competition will help her team as it prepares for the start of area play.

“I told the girls, now we know we have holes, and we have to be able to fill them,” Andrews said. “Playing a team better than us in some aspects lets us know where we need to step up, which is good, being able to see that.”

Troup will look to get back on the winning track when it visits Heard County on Thursday.