FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Wildcats a big stride last fall on the court. Fort Valley State aims to build upon its women's volleyball progress and take another step in the 2024 campaign.
FVSU claimed double-digit victories for the first time in 15 years a year ago. With a solid eight returners and an equally large group of incoming newcomers, first-year head coach Chymaine Guinyard. The new Wildcat leader takes over a team which went out to a 10-9 record before a tough finish at 11-16. It was still the first double figure win year since a 19-14 mark in 2008.
Guinyard comes to The Valley after she directed the Claflin University women's volleyball program for the past four years. In those four seasons, Guinyard's teams posted two winning seasons, including a 15-10 year with an 11-5 CIAA record.
Guinyard looks to put her coaching-style stamp on the program, "What I'll bring to the team from my style is a high-energy type of play, playing with intention and for each other. Being that I am a product from a SIAC Championship team, I'm bringing a deep passion in working towards being 1% greater each and every day. I look to build upon the achievements we accomplish and a better sense of urgency with growing my student-athletes court IQ and communication skills."
All of what the coach brings complements her first season directing the program's goals and outlook.
"My goals for the season is to have another double-digit winning season, and foster an intentional and hardworking program," said Guinyard. "The preseason rankings came out with the program being ranked 7th of 7 in the Eastern Division and with the talent and skills my student-athletes possess, we will not be ranked 7th by the end of the season. We are instilling that mindset in everything we do to produce student-athletes who will receive weekly SIAC Volleyball accolades and also post-season accolades along with being ranked in individual NCAA statistics."
The Wildcats will feature one of its most veteran rosters in quite a few seasons. Of the eight returning players, FVSU will have five seniors with setters/outside hitters Laiani McCullough (Beaufort, SC) and Morgan Hebert (Fresno, Calif.) along with outside hitter Raven Edwards (Merrillville, Ind.), middle blocker Nia Mack (Cibolo, Texas) and libero Sarah Rosario (Bayamon, PR) also in their final seasons. A trio of sophomore front line players of Laila Hilton (Denver, Colo.), Brooke Matthews (Atlanta, Ga.) and Antonia Brewer (Summerville, SC) complete the Wildcats back for this fall.
Starting with the two running the offense, McCullough and Hebert begin their fourth seasons being key members of the FVSU squad. The two combined for 779 assists, 303 digs, 229 kills, 71 total blocks and 47 aces. McCullough led in assists (603), digs (197) aces (38) and total blocks (49) of the two seniors, while Hebert downed 144 kills and had 176 assists.
Edwards, a 2022 All-SIAC selection, posted 91 kills in 50 sets a year ago, while second-year transfer Mack had 66 winners of her own to go with 42 blocks and 17 aces.
Rosario saw her 2023 season cut short due to an injury after she started the year by averaging over 3.15 digs per set and 41 in the first 13 sets of the year.
The three sophomores added much needed size and front line production. Hilton downed 167 kills for 2.0 per set played while she had 29 blocks. Matthews showed good serving with 17 aces and was part of 49 total blocks and 91 kills. Brewer chipped in 14 kills in 26 sets.
The eight veterans have been leading the 2024 preparations heading into the team's first contest on Tuesday night, September 17. The late start of the year will be in the HPE Arena in a 6 p.m. match against Wesleyan College.
"We've been working on being intentional in our reps and implementing the skills we do in each drill from start to finish. With this, we want to put together each day's progression to gel all the skills and the system that will produce effectively," explains Coach Guinyard of her early season work with the team.
Coach Guinyard welcomed nine more new Wildcats to the fold, including four transfers. Juniors Benaye Kyle (Birmingham, Ala.) is an outside hitter from Grambling State, Antonique Coleman (Detroit, Mich.) adds another 6-0 blocker from Consumes River College and Miles College's libero Chaiza Jones (Huntsville, Ala.)brings another experienced defender.
Sophomore Caytlyn Sanford (Ft. Belvoir, Va.), a 5-10 opposite, followed the FVSU coach after she played her first campaign with Claflin University.
The FVSU roster is rounded out with five true freshmen – right side Hannah Roundtree (Charlotte, NC), setter Jahyra Thomas (Concord, NC), defensive specialist Zoe Lowe (Perry, Ga.), outside hitter Dakotah Holmes (Hampton, Ga.) and middle hitter Tanyla Farley (Tarpon Springs, Fla.).
Coach Guinyard on Wildcat newcomers:
Caytlyn Sanford - (Transfer) coming off her freshman campaign, her play style has matured being an Opposite, whose main priority is to make the OH attacking options difficult to find. She was selected as CIAA Rookie of the Week during the 2023 season, an aggressive attacker who has a very intense passion for the game
Chaiza Jones - (Transfer) Very gritty and high energy Libero, you'll see her everywhere on the court trying to put passes/digs in the best possible position for us to run plays, she's a transfer from Miles College, who was named to the 2023 All-SIAC Second Team
Benaye Kyle - (Transfer) a very skilled and experienced defender who has played positions strictly on just the defensive side of volleyball and the offensive side. Her craftiness in finding holes in the opposing teams' defense is great. She comes from a great background of volleyball in Alabama
Hannah Roundtree - (Freshman) this will be her first season of playing collegiate volleyball, she's played both the Outside and Right Side pin and comes from a great background of volleyball in North Carolina. She's doing well in practices and is still adjusting to the system and how to be a crafty attacker scoring. Looking for continued growth as this season progresses.
Tanyla Farley- (Freshman) this will be her first season of playing collegiate volleyball. She's played both Middle and Outside and comes from a great background of volleyball in Florida. She's doing well in practices and is still adjusting to the system and how to be a crafty attacker scoring. Looking for continued growth as this season progresses.
Antonique Coleman (Transfer) - Very long in length defender and presents a very solid block for our defense. She comes from the JUCO system where she achieved the record for Most Blocks in a Single Season in 2022, All-Conference 1st and 2nd Team status and 219 Career Blocks through 2023 (Most in School History)
Dakotah Holmes (Freshman) this will be her first season of playing collegiate volleyball. She plays Outside and is a very physical attacker and defender who comes from a great background of volleyball in Georgia. She's doing well in practices and is still adjusting to the system and how to be a crafty attacker scoring. Looking for continued growth as this season progresses.
Zoe Lowe (Freshman) this will be her first season of playing collegiate volleyball. She is a Defensive Specialist and has been doing well in practices and is still adjusting to the system and how to be a crafty attacker scoring. Looking for continued growth as this season progresses.
Jahyra Thomas (Freshman) this will be her first season of playing collegiate volleyball, she is a setter who comes from a great background of volleyball in North Carolina. She's been playing with the U.S. Virgin Islands National Team and has the experience of playing against teams and playing with tempo styles. She's doing well in practices and is still adjusting to the system and how to be a setter that runs an offense effectively for her hitters. Looking for continued growth as this season progresses.
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