The five time state champion Leopard volleyball team has made adjustments to its program this year as now there are two freshman teams and only one junior varsity team; which is different from the program’s layout last year.

“We had a very strong group of freshmen coming in so we wanted to make sure we had opportunities for all those kids to participate and work on getting better as their freshman seasons progress,” head volleyball coach Jason Nicholson said. “I feel like there’s a lot of growth that can happen at that level and it appears two teams made the most sense. The two teams are based on the size of the freshman class; it also gave us the best chance to match up with other teams in our district since most teams have two freshman teams as well.”

The two freshman teams are called Freshman A and Freshman B or Black and Red. The two teams are separated by skill level which gives them competition for each spot.

“To determine what teams the players need to be on, we go through a four day trial process trying to figure out where everybody’s skill set, position wise,” Nicholson said.

Both teams practice together sometimes and each team has enough players to compete on its own.

“We try to keep 10 to 12 players on each team,” Nicholson said. “It gives an opportunity for those kids to compete against each other.”

The change may benefit the team as a whole, but there could be a drawback next year.

“The freshman class is so large so it’s going to be difficult next year when not all of them get to move up to junior varsity and you can go back to a freshman team as a sophomore,” freshman JV player Megan Gardner said. “Half of them are going to have to leave or quit volleyball.”

But for now, the change is one appreciated by the ninth graders.

“I like the change of two freshman volleyball teams,” freshman A team player Hanna Petree said. “It gives everybody the chance to make the volleyball team.”