The Northshore Lady Panthers are preparing for the volleyball season after having their 2007 campaign end by losing to the Fontainebleau Lady Bulldogs in the bi-district round of the playoffs.

Last season, NHS went 17-14 overall and tied Mandeville for third place in District 5-I play with a 9-5 record. NHS rebounded by making the playoffs after not getting to postseason the year before.

This year’s theme is “Team Unity.”

Northshore'€™s Tory Hearn goes for the kill over Kristy Meyer as Rachel Eberhard prepares for a dig during the Lady Panthers practice Thursday. Behind Hearn are Olivia Helmers (left) and Richelle Saluga getting in position in case of a block. (Staff Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

“I think that is camaraderie and chemistry. That’s what we’re shooting for,” said coach Sandy Blancher, who enters her 17th season. “The girls are really trying to do that.”

Blancher said they are having team activities to reinforce that. Some of the things the squad has done included going to camps, decorating their lockers at a camp held at the University of Tampa with the “Team Unity” theme and welcoming the freshmen to the club.

“They’re together on the floor and they’re together off the floor,” Blancher said. “What it gives you at practice is a real upbeat team and a lot of smiles. Volleyball is a game of momentum and there’s no room for negative energy on the court.”

One thing Northshore will lack in this year is experience as senior setter Richelle Saluga is the only returning starter. Saluga was named as a second-team all-district player last year. She is a multi-sport athlete, competing in the 100-meter and 300 hurdles. Last year, she finished runner-up in the regional meet in the 100 hurdles and qualified for state. Saluga took fifth in the 300 hurdles during the regionals.

She is one of four seniors with the others being Olivia Helmers, Jennifer Bovington and Gisela Collazo. NHS is a junior-laden team with six.

Coach Blancher said that is something the team can overcome this year.

“I’d like us to have a little bit more experience, but I think the unity and camaraderie will make up for some of the experience we don’t have,” Blancher said.

Saluga said she knows seniors have to be leaders, but playing her position has helped her with those qualities.

“I’ve had to lead since I was younger because I’m a setter and setters tend to have that role,” she said.

Senior outside hitter Helmers, who will also play left and right back, is in her second year of playing volleyball. She feels that NHS can be successful if everybody plays as one.

“I think that if we all pull together and achieve everything as one team, I think we will do very well together,” Helmers said. “

Helmers recalled a match when the Lady Panthers were at the Tampa camp and the squad competed as one. She said the match only lasted seven minutes, but the Lady Panthers communicated well and played as a unit, allowing them to defeat a tough team.

Coach Blancher said Helmers did everything she could do to be on the team and is a great success story.

“I never kept her until her third year,” Blancher said. “I cut her. I noticed her in P.E. always picking up a ball and always wanting to pass. Instead of being negative, she came up to me and said, ‘Coach, what can I do to be better?’ I told her it was ball control/passing.”

Blancher said Helmers is a hard worker and when she is competing, her mind is always on the task at hand.

“She played in the off season and she is one of the most focused players on the floor,” Blancher said.

The Lady Panthers will begin their season on Thursday with the jamboree, which will be held at Mandeville High.