Adjusting to a new year of high school sports also includes getting used to recent graduates not being at practice. The West Central Valley Wildcats volleyball team completed their first week of practice without 2018 graduate Grace Dupuy on the floor. Dupuy was a four-sport varsity athlete her senior season at West Central Valley and was one of the best offensive players for the Wildcats volleyball team last fall. West Central Valley head volleyball coach John Jones told Raccoon Valley Radio that Dupuy would be missed this season. “She really set the tone with some big blocks, and when she got off the net, she could really hit the ball.” Jones said, “That was a new role for her because the previous year the squad graduated a majority of their offense and so Grace (Dupuy) stepped up.”

Dupuy’s senior stats included a team-high 40 blocks, 54 kills, and 23 aces. Preseason practice continues next week for all high school volleyball teams. The first match of the 2018 season for West Central Valley is on Tuesday, August 21, hosting Guthrie County rival AC/GC in a West Central Activities Conference contest.