From the Ground Up: Downsville Charter Volleyball continues to grow as volleyball program

DOWNSVILLE, La. ( KTVE/KARD ) — The Downsville Demons volleyball squad is only in their third year of existence.

They have gone through growing pains, but they have seen growth each year they step on the court.

That growth was visible in their season opener against the Neville Tigers, a team who we talked about earlier this week who picked up 18 wins last season and return an experienced squad.

Although the Demons would fall to the Tigers, they picked up a win in the first set against the talented group and gave the Tigers all they could handle.

It may not be a win on their record, but for the Demons, their performance was more of a win than you may think.

“Definitely a major confidence boost,” Turner said. “I think it’s going to be great for the season. They came in, they had a really good first set. I can’t be more proud of them honestly.”

The Downsville Demons gave the Neville Tigers all they could handle in Monday’s home opener.

A back in forth battle which saw this team never back down.

Head Coach Kalie Turner and assistant coach Emily Young were excited about the teams’ performance, not because they won, but because of just how far the program has come.

Downsville volleyball has only been in existence for a short three years now, but Turner and Young say each year, they just keep getting better and better.

“It makes me incredibly proud,” Turner said. “The first year of this, they had no volleyball experience because it wasn’t around here. So, we’ve definitely grown a lot and as a coach and creating this program, honestly, it’s making my day.”

“We’ve seen a lot of improvement from the girls over the summer and just from how much work they’ve put in and so it’s been really cool to see them grow and as a team, for sure,” Young said.

Their improvement should be no surprise.

This past summer, the Demons spent most of the summer competing, giving them more game experience and a sense of comfort when they step on the court.

“AVA, the volleyball club, had reached out to us about playing the summer games and I think that helped us tremendously because we were getting more reps in and the years before this one, all summer we really weren’t doing much other than practice, so that definitely gave us a foot in the door and ready to play some bigger teams and ready to, hopefully, win.”

But this is just a glimpse of what their potential can be.

With such a young team taking the floor, the sky is the limit–not just for the 2024 season, but even further down the road.

“Our team is very young,” Turner said. “Last year, about half of our team were 7th and 8th grade. So, this year, we have mainly 9th graders and about two 11th graders and maybe one senior. So, we’re a very young team, but they give it their all.”

“We’re building from the ground up, so hopefully we will see that improvement and growth over the next few years.”

After getting that first game out of the way, Young says she is excited to see where this team can take things.

“Definitely to keep on playing like we played tonight, stay head strong and really just win,” said Turner.