By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Dexter Middle School volleyball team was on display Tuesday night in their preseason scrimmage. Family and friends packed the T.S. Hill Middle School gym to watch the seventh and eighth grade squads duked it out on the court.

Head coach Melissa Hahn was pleased with her teams' performance in the scrimmage, but was quick to point out areas they need to work on.

"I was pretty pleased with my eighth grade's transitions, I thought we had a lot of good pass and hits," Hahn said. "The eighth grade has some really good servers, and that was our big weapon last year. We didn't have many missed serves, and I was happy with that."

"Both teams needed to work on communication. I thought that was our big weakness, and that's what we're going to be working on in practice tomorrow," she continued. "Also, staying up; getting over those mental mistakes and pre-game jitters. I saw a lot of really good things tonight."

The DMS volleyball program has set a high bar for itself in recent years; last season, both the seventh and eighth grade squads went undefeated, without losing a single set. Hahn thinks her seventh grade squad has the talent to achieve the feat this season, but notes the hard work that will be required.

"We're going to have to work hard every practice. That's our goal, to go undefeated every season," she said. "We'll have to play to the best of our ability, but if we play our game to the best of our ability and cut out the mental mistakes, we have the talent to do that."

The Lady Bearcats are set to open their season Thursday (March 15) night against the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs; the eighth grade squad posted a lopsided victory over Sikeston during their seventh grade year.

"Last year, we beat them 25-1 in the first set, with 14 aces in the first set. I'm hoping for a game that we can really show off some talent. We faced that some last year - our serves were good, but they didn't really get to play," Hahn said. "I love that we have those good servers, but I really want them to play. Sikeston just doesn't have the youth program that we have, so their seventh grade girls come in a little weaker. Once they get involved, their eighth grade comes in a lot stronger. I know a lot of those girls from Sikeston because Julia (Coach Hahn's eighth grade daughter, who is a member of the team) has played soccer with them, and they have great athletes, so I'm anxious to see what a year is going to do to them."

The season opener is scheduled for seventh grade action at 6:00 p.m., with the eighth grade squad immediately following.

Click here for the full roster. The 2012 schedule can be found here.