Author’s Note: I thought I was going to meet the new volleyball coach. I received a double treat. It turns out there are two new coaches.
HINTON- Leading the varsity team is Bethani Cline-Wylie, better known as “Scrappy” to her friends. Bethani attended both middle school and high school in Summers County, graduating from high school in 2020. She played volleyball in Summers County for six years and basketball for nine years, receiving honorable mention for her efforts in volleyball. Bethani was assistant coach last year and has taken over the reins for 2025 and, hopefully, beyond. Her plans are to develop the team and, of course, win a lot of matches in the process. Bethani is self-employed and, when not coaching volleyball, enjoys fishing, crafting and spending time with her wife and cats.
Coaching the junior varsity team is Emilee C. Smith, who also attended both middle and high schools in Summers County, graduating from SCHS in 2023. She played volleyball all seven years. Emilee is helping develop player skills as they move into the higher grades. Emilee works for 12N Army National Guard and for R.T. Rogers Oil Company. She is also active in the River Valley Baptist Church.
SCHS was fortunate this year to have a favorable mix of players to start the season, with eleven juniors and seniors and eleven freshmen and sophomores. In total, this is a large increase in participants over past years and shows the rising interest in volleyball locally. An added bonus is that many of the underclassmen can easily transition to play in varsity matches, should the occasion arise.
Before the season started, the team held a scrimmage. The team was split into two groups, with Bethani trying to create two well-balanced teams, each featuring players from all four years. The result was a 2-1 win by the orange team after an amazing ten straight service aces (at least – who was counting) by sophomore Lilly Elkins.
In attendance were the SCHS cheerleaders and several hundred spectators, who cheered for the black or orange team, or both, as the scrimmage progressed.
Both Bethani and Emilee have focused in practice on serving, and it has paid off. There were more impressive aces in the three-set scrimmage than one normally sees in a five-set match. That trend has continued into the regular season.
When asked about the improvement, the coaches agreed that the players had taken it upon themselves to practice all aspects of the game. In fact, several members of the team competed in a competitive league in the spring, traveling to tournaments in Tennessee and Virginia as team Tidal Wave. According to Bethani and Emilee, that extra effort on the part of the players seems to have paid dividends in terms of cohesiveness and skill development. It should be of significant benefit during the high school season. The varsity team record is currently 3 – 5, but 2 of the losses were by a slim margin after taking the opponents to five sets. SCHS is expecting a successful season this year.
The schedule was posted in The Hinton News August 20, 2025, edition. Home games are at the Summers County High School gymnasium.
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