DAPHNE, Ala. - The Bayside Lady Admirals officially began their run for a 12th consecutive volleyball state championship earlier this month.

After losing her twin peak pair of net dominating all-state players Gabby Deshotel and Virginia Pittman to graduation, Head coach Ann Schilling hopes to rely on five returning seniors to fill those six-footer-plus shoes as well as help break in some younger players this season.

“We’re excited. Our goal is to just get better everyday and the kids are working hard. Work hard on the little things knowing that the little things are really the big things down the road,” Schilling said.

With five seniors, Jhalen Caffey, Sydney Chandler, Morgan Dulaney, Madison Matthews and Harper Morrison it won’t exactly be a rebuilding year, but a different looking team using their own skill sets that will have to find itself.

“Our ball handling is looking okay so defensively we think we can be pretty good and that’s always a must every year and we have pretty good depth and experience on the defensive side. That’s exciting. On offense, we have experience with more seniors than we’ve had in a while, but we’ll be different up front with Gabby and Virginia graduating this past spring. We’ll miss their power and scoring and blocking. But we will have to be more balanced overall because we won’t stop as many balls at the net. But we are aggressive and can hit and of course we have the best setter in the state in Sydney Chandler.”

Chandler started as a seventh grader and is looking to add a sixth championship ring to her collection. She was also the divisional state MVP as a sophomore and a multi-all-state selection.

“If we can pass well, Syd can take it from there,” Schilling said. “We have those five seniors and then several younger ones with just a few in between, so we will be moving some people around and making some decisions the next few weeks before we’re in a set rotation. And that usually needs a little adjusting. But sure serving should be pretty good again but you can always improve and that’s another important fundamental we’ll work on.”

One of the rising talents for Schilling is Lauren Chastang who played a lot of big-match minutes including the playoffs and the Elite Eight state tournament. But the incoming freshman hitter/blocker injured her ankle and may miss or play a limited role in the team’s opener against Schilling’s alma mater 6A McGill-Toolen Catholic.

“That’s always a fun way to start the season for both of us,” she said. “A good rivalry is always exciting, too. But Lauren hurt her ankle and she might play but we won’t risk aggravating it.”

Bayside will host the Mc-T Dirty Dozen coached by Gretchen Boykin Aug. 29 at 6 p.m.