Craig County Volleyball Opens with Tripleheader Monday

The Craig County volleyball team will open the 2025 season Monday and the girls will jump right into the fire. The Rockets will have a tripleheader against Glenvar in Roanoke County.

It’s a tough matchup for the Craig girls. Glenvar was the state Class 2 champion in 2022 and ’23. Last year the Highlanders won just seven games but the junior varsity won the Three Rivers District championship and most of those girls are moving up to the varsity. Monday’s tripleheader opens with a middle school game at 4:30 pm followed by a jayvee game at 5:30 pm and the varsity game at 7 pm.

Craig coach Suzanne Crawford had an outstanding turnout with 37 girls in the program between the varsity, jayvee and middle school teams. The Rockets are hoping for much improvement over last year’s team, which won two matches and finished fifth in the Pioneer District.

“Last season was hard,” said Crawford. “We played hard, but we couldn’t pull out a win.”

The Rockets return a solid nucleus from last year’s team with more experience all around. Natalie Fisher returns at the important setter position and Cheyanne Bell will be returning as a middle hitter. Other returnees include Jenna Boitnotte, who can set or play right side hitter, and Daileigh Donithan, an all-district honorable mention player at outside hitter last year. Craig also returns all-district honorable mention Mackenzie Lucas at middle or outside hitter, Felicity Fisher at outside hitter and Brooke Wright as a defensive specialist or setter.

New to the varsity will be Laikan May, who will be playing as a libero. Annalese Zimmerman will be an outside hitter and her sister, Annika Zimmerman, will be playing as a middle hitter and both are very athletic. Also, Holley Givens will be playing as an outside hitter and Emily Smith will be joining the varsity team this year as a middle hitter. “Emily will be a considerable asset to the team because not only can she set if we need her to, but she can also hit the ball from anywhere on the court,” said Crawford.

After Monday’s tripleheader at Glenvar the Rockets will have their home opener a night later, on Tuesday of next week against Roanoke Valley Christian. The Rockets will host William Fleming, a Class 5 school, on August 28. The Pioneer District opener is September 16 when Narrows comes to New Castle. Crawford is expecting the Pioneer to be tough once again.

“Our district has some strong returning teams,” she said. “Narrows will be a team to watch, as will Bath County. Both teams finished the district strong last year and have many returning players. However, the Lady Rockets have put in the time to improve their skills and achieve personal growth for the season, and will be competing with them.”

The Rockets are putting last season behind them and hoping for a big improvement this fall. “This season is a fresh start, and the only place for the Craig County High School Lady Rockets to go is up,” said Crawford. “Over the summer assistant varsity coach Logan Peters did open gyms to work on skills, and that alone has helped us get a good start to the season. The dedication and effort have been strong so far for the beginning of the season, and I look forward to seeing the girls playing.”

The Rockets will compete in a jamboree at Bassett High this Saturday.

“This season our goal is to get some wins,” said Crawford. “We want to continue to play hard and grow, but take that growth to the court and win games. The girls have put in a lot of time over the summer, and I want them to see the rewards of their hard work and get some wins this season.”