The Harding Charter Prep volleyball team has come out this season swinging.

Coach Kyle Malzahn and his new assistant coach, Lakin Smith, have done a great job getting the girls in shape for the 2014-2015 school year.

The Lady Eagles had their second game this season against the Hennessey High School Eagles on August 14.

The Junior Varsity had a successful game pulling ahead of Hennessey for the win.

The Varsity won their first game this season against Hennessey in a tight match.

Athletic Director Mylo Miller said,” I think that it has been a good coaching relationship between Coach Malzahn and Coach Smith. It is good to bring Lakin in because she is an HCP alum and understands the atmosphere of the school and she balances out Coach Malzahn well.”

The volleyball team also competed in a tournament in Bethany this past weekend. Six teams competed at the tournament and the Lady Eagles won second place overall.

“My first reaction when I found out the placement at the tournament was astonishment, in a good way,” Miller said.

The Eagles were closely ranked with other teams until the last game when they pulled out another win.

“I was elated and very happy about their performance and it is very cool that they brought home some hardware,” Miller said.

Sophomore Allison Williams was voted by all of the coaches to be named an All-Star player from HCP at the tournament.

Williams was not expecting the honor and was very surprised when she found out.

“We all played really well together,” Williams said.” This year is so much better because we actually play as a team and we can win games now.”

Miller was impressed by William’s accomplishment.

“It is fantastic and outstanding that Allison is a good kid, student and athlete,” Miller said. “It is great to see this success because volleyball is a big sport for girls at Harding.”

Volleyball coach Kyle Malzahn was proud of their accomplishment.

“We have already accomplished more than last year and we are not even half way through the season,” Malzahn said,” Now, I would like them to go further into the playoff bracket for State, and I think that they have the talent to do that.”

Miller sees potential in the team as well after watching them play in the home games.

“The team has obviously improved this year because they are winning now and it is exciting,” Miller said.

So far, Malzahn is quite impressed by the team’s improvement.

“They have done outstanding compared to last year. There is such an improvement in attitudes and effort,” Malzahn said.

The girls also played another game August 22 at home against Crossings. The Junior Varsity had a tough time against Crossings, and lost. However the Varsity won, by coming back and winning the fifth match.

The next volleyball game is September 4 against Noble.