CAMDEN — Good things are happening for Preble Shawnee’s volleyball program.
The Arrows are off to an 11-0 start (5-0 Western Ohio Athletic Conference) and are currently ranked 16th in the latest Division III state poll.
The team is being led senior Harlee Howard, who just last week recorded her 1,000th career dig, tied the single game ace record (Kaylie Campbell ‘19) with 13 and set a new career ace record (Kendal George ‘21) with 153.
“Harlee, we’ve done plenty of these interviews where we’ve talked about her and her attitude and her willingness to put everything on the line to get where she wants to be with this game,” Shawnee coach Josh Evans said.
“She’s put a lot of hard work in over the past few years to get to where she’s at. She’s set some goals and she’s getting to them. She’s not done. I know a lot of teams don’t like seeing her on the court. But I think this is just going to make it even worse and make them fear her a little bit more.”
Howard helped the Arrows to wins over National Trail and Tri-County North last week.
“She means a lot. Senior captain. She’s the loud one on the court. She’s the coach on the court. But she is definitely the team leader. She’s definitely the one that sets the tempo for this team,” Evans said.
Howard eclipsed all three records against North on Thursday, Sept. 15 in a 25-4, 25-7, 25-6 win.
The Arrows knocked off Trail in four sets on Tuesday, Sept. 13 25-12, 25-18, 21-25, 25-12.
Although Howard is receiving a bulk of the attention, Evans said his team rallied around one another.
“The team, they rally around each other. We saw it last year when Carlyn (George) got her 1,000th assist and they’re doing it again this year,” Evans said. “They love each other. It’s a good team chemistry and they all know that one thing can’t be done by one person. It’s a whole team effort.”
Evans said being unbeaten at this stage of the season had affected his team.
“It’s a big step. It’s a great start. Had a lot of people talk about that perfection and from day one I’ve always told these girls, I don’t expect perfection. I expect improvement every day,” he said. “We have a lot of tough tests coming up. We have two weeks coming up where we’re playing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and the following week we’re playing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So, we got a tough schedule coming up. We’re looking to keep this trend going and keep pushing hard to get ready for the postseason.”
This week the Arrows were scheduled to play at Bradford on Tuesday, Sept. 20 and will host Twin Valley South on Thursday, Sept. 22.
Shawnee will host Eaton (9-2) on Monday, Sept. 26 and play a key WOAC contest at Newton on Wednesday, Sept. 28. Currently, Shawnee and Newton (13-0, 6-0) sit atop the WOAC standings.
