Coach Nikka Gatling hopes to grow with the Lady Bulldogs volleyball team.

The Lady Bulldogs want to take this season to pick up where they left off last season. They were a playoff team that lost in the first round of regionals, but last season was tough by many measures for the Lady Bulldogs.

They had to go through a coaching change in the middle of the season, which would be tough for any team. Adjustments by both players and coaches are a difficult task, so adapting to new styles on the fly presented a new challenge for King’s Fork, and they finished the season as strong as they could have.

This season, they are under the direction of Nikka Gatling, who provides a familiar face to some of the girls.

“I am excited about this season,” Gatling said. “We have new faces and some returners, so we want to gel the new with the old. We want to see how everyone works together and how we are going to build. This is a good team, and we have a lot of seniors. I think if they keep learning and taking everything in, these girls can be really good.”

Gatling has been building relationships with her players, and she believes that it will pay off. They have all been receptive to each other. Everyone wants what is best, and that is for the team to win.

King’s Fork takes on Hickory High School on the road Thursday, and Gatling is looking forward to the team playing together and having fun in this first week of the season.

“We want to continue to build this chemistry,” Gatling said. “Regardless of the outcome, we want to make sure every time we step on that court we are playing hard.”