SAND ROCK – The past few seasons, the Sand Rock Lady Wildcat volleyball team has been blessed with height. That height has helped led the Wildcats to the Class 2A Final Four the past three seasons.

If the Wildcats are to make it back to the Final Four a fourth straight season, height will have to be something in which they’ll have to account for.

Sand Rock’s tallest player is senior middle hitter Karlie Anderson, who stands near 5-foot-7. Anderson, along with senior setter Logan Smith, are the only two players the Wildcats have returning in 2010 with quality varsity experience.

However, head coach Lisa Bates said she’s been “pleasantly surprised” with how far along this season’s team has come during the summer in the absence of graduated players Jennifer Campbell, Megan Battles, Carrie Robertson, Gena Farmer and Kayla Mashburn.

Campbell is now playing at West Alabama. Battles recently signed a scholarship to play at Gadsden State.

“We thought we were going to really struggle this year by losing so much,” Bates said. “We’re not going to be intimidating to look at. We lost a lot of power, but these girls have really stepped it up and they’ve surprised us this summer. We’ve had some really positive play dates.

“We just got back from Wallace (State), and we had a great camp up there. There were 20 teams, and we got to play some good competition like Winston County, Madison County, DAR, Holly Pond and Deshler. We did really well.

“We’re short, but we’re spunky. They really get after it.”

While it is true the Wildcats may look young on the floor, Bates does have six total seniors on this year’s squad. Joining Anderson and Smith are right-side hitters Marlee Bell and Emily Ozment.

Paige Ashley serves as the Wildcat defensive specialist. Lana Bell is the team’s libero.

Other varsity newcomers are junior outside hitters Kristin Ray and Chasitie Goza, sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Hayes and sophomore middle hitter Amber Ashley.

“These girls got a lot of experience on JV (junior varsity) last year,” Bates said. “Since we had so many seniors last year, we kept a lot of them down on JV and they got some experience working together. They’re used to working together a lot.”

Bates said heading into the 2010 season she didn’t think this Wildcat team could be an Elite 8 caliber squad, but after what she’s seen the past few days she’s hopeful they may be one of the few teams to make it to Pelham at season’s end.

“We’re going to be competitive,” Bates said. “If they play well and do the things they know how to do, then we’ll have a shot at doing something like that. That’s one of our goals – to get to state.”

But in order for the Wildcats to make it back to Pelham, they’ll have to do it in a tough Class 2A, Area 11 that features perennial state power Pleasant Valley, West End and Westbrook Christian.

By area tournament time, Bates hopes a continued strong schedule will serve the Wildcats well. The Wildcats play several teams who participated in the last year’s Elite 8, including Spring Garden, Gaston and Geraldine. Sand Rock also plays its share of larger class schools including Cherokee County, Southside, Albertville, Scottsboro and Arab.

“We kept our schedule tough, so we’re going to have good competition all year,” Bates said. “It’s going to be a good year of volleyball, and I think this group will surprise a lot of people.

“I like this bunch. I like their heart. They really play to win, and I’m looking forward to it.”