Williamsburg’s SBC-winning 2011-12 team graduated six seniors, but there are still five seniors on the 2012-13 roster.
For Williamsburg volleyball, the view from the top is pretty nice.

The Lady Wildcats have won back-to-back Southern Buckeye Conference National Division titles and are coming off an 18-1 season that saw the team reach the district finals.

However, as is the case with high school programs, graduation comes at the end of every year, leaving coaches and teams looking around for some semblance of stability to take them into the next season.

Add to the fold a new head coach and the Lady Wildcats will have their plates full as they approach their first regular season match on Aug. 27 against Goshen.

The new leader of the Lady Wildcats is Kim McCarty and while she is still becoming acclimated with the program and league, she doesn’t lack for experience.

“I coached JV for a year as well as coaching club volleyball in the offseason,” McCarty said. “Then the guy I was coaching club with went to Milford High School and took me there and I coached there for the next three or four years. After that, I had my daughter and took off a few years, but I had been reffing and wanted to get back into coaching because I like it a lot and enjoy it.”

McCarty wanted to wait a little while as her daughter grew up before she got back into coaching and when the time was right, the Williamsburg job became available, she applied and got the job.

Now, McCarty enters into the enviable position of head coach of a two-time league champion and while she doesn’t have the responsibility to rebuild the program, she does inherit the burden of keeping the Williamsburg name atop the standings.

“We lost six seniors last year, so I have some tough shoes to fill knowing that Williamsburg is very successful,” McCarty said. “But, we have five seniors this year.”

Headlining the senior class for McCarty will be Tiffany Tibbs, setter and outside hitter. McCarty expects Tibbs to be a great contributor to the team and believes her experience at Williamsburg as well as her time playing club volleyball in the offseason will translate into more winning ways for the Lady Wildcats.

McCarty is also looking for middle blocker Sarah Wetzel to be a big part of the Lady Wildcats’ lineup along with the other defensive specialists that they have around the court.

In league play this year, McCarty isn’t fully sure what to expect as she familiarizes herself with her new team and surroundings, but she is confident that with the team she has, the Lady Wildcats will once again find themselves near or atop the standings come season’s end.

“We have four juniors this year – and I didn’t know what we would have as a team coming in (considering) what we lost last year – but, I think with what we do have, the goal is to keep the Williamsburg name good and live and go as far as we can with what we have,” McCarty said of this year’s team.

“We have great athletes, so I think we can do that.”