The Selma High and Southside High School volleyball programs came together this past Monday and Tuesday to participate in Huntingdon College’s satellite camp in Selma High’s gymnasium.

The Saints and the Panthers have experienced HC’s volleyball camp before, but this was the first year the two local schools did it together.

“This is the first year that Southside connected with us to do this camp together,” Saints head coach Katasha Turner said. “Huntingdon does satellite camps throughout the year and they have camps on campus in Montgomery, and it just gives them a chance to reach smaller schools around the area that may not be able to come to Montgomery.”

Both teams had a few returning players from the 2017 season and fresh faces at the camp to go over fundamentals, drills and even play a few scrimmage matches.

“They learned a lot. They got to play with each other and scrimmage against each other,” Turner said. “Both teams have beginner players, so we did the fundamentals and then we elaborated off of them. A lot of the drills became more intricate, and they just kept building off each other.”

The Panthers have just four returning players from last season, but Southside head volleyball coach Samantha Henry noticed that her new players were improving as the camp progressed.

“When they got on the floor after the different drills and training, they actually looked pretty good,” Henry said. “Now, I feel better about them. My players said they learned a lot, and that they were able to use what was given to them during the camp. We had been running drills at the school, but when we actually got to camp and they did the drills as a group with other people they caught on to it.”

The visit from Huntingdon College meant a lot to the Saints and Panthers volleyball programs. The coaches and the players appreciated the fact that the Huntingdon College program was willing to make the trip to Selma.

“A lot of the girls don’t have the transportation to go to UAB, South Alabama or any other place, so it was nice of Huntingdon to do the satellite here in Selma,” Henry said. “It was nice of them to do that for us.”