Last Tuesday the Guntersville Wildcat volleyball team wrapped up what Coach Jimmy Latta called a “busy summer.” The team hosted a playdate with teams from all over the state.

The teams that attended the playdate included: Hazel Green, Auburn, Mountain Brook, Boaz, Homewood, West End, Geraldine, Good Hope, Piedmont, and Oxford.

A playdate is an event permitted by the AHSAA in which teams can get together and scrimmage during the summer, prior to the first day of fall practice. It’s very similar to a football jamboree game.

GHS split the first set with Mountain Brook, but finished up by winning out.

“I feel good about today,” Latta said. “It was a good way to wrap up the summer and head into the fall.”

Latta said the team has been in the weight room working out and in the gym working on skill development three or four nights a week.

Just a few weeks ago the Lady Cats traveled 8 hours to Muncie, Indiana for a volleyball team camp.

“High school volleyball is to Muncie like what SEC football is to us,” said Latta. “It’s nothing for them to sell out a high school game.”

At the camp, players were able to receive thorough training on individual skills.

“Besides the skill development, each day we would play little games against the other teams that would focus on certain aspects of the game, “ Latta said.

The camp finished up with a tournament on Saturday that included not only the other 12 teams at the camp, but 16 more that traveled in to play.

Latta feels his team has shown great work ethic throughout the summer.

“We have not let down this summer,” Latta said. “Sometimes teams that have made it to the top have a tendency to coast, but these girls are hungry and want to push it to another level.”

“They know what happened in the post season last year. They were getting everybody’s best and they understand it’s only going to get tougher this year.”

Guntersville will field 12 girls on Varsity and 15 on JV.

Latta and the Lady Cats will start preparations to defend their State Title when they open fall camp on Monday.