Move aside fellas, it’s time for the ladies of Northwestern Technical College to take the court.

The school’s inaugural women’s volleyball team will suit up for the first time on April 5 as they look to continue Northwestern’s impressive run in the school’s first season in athletics.

Like the men’s basketball team, the Lady Mustangs’ roster is dotted with plenty of familiar faces that played for successful high school programs in Walker County.

Three of the Lady Mustangs - Carrie Hawkins, Melissa Long and Christa Plank - prepped at Ridgeland and were part of Lady Panthers’ teams that won a lot of matches.

“I’m excited,” Long said. “I never thought to get play again. We’re coming together as a team and it’s been a lot of fun, although I was a little sore after that first day.

Not having done that for six years, that first day was a bit of a wake-up call, but it’s not so bad. It nice to get back in shape and it feels good to play with a team again.”

Former Gordon Lee Lady Trojan Kara Durham, who was a freshman on Gordon Lee’s first volleyball team in 2001 and its first area championship team in 2004, said she was also excited to be playing volleyball again.

“I’ve missed playing,” she explained. “I’m a little out of shape and a little sore, but it’s fun playing with some new people, especially some of the ones I played against in high school. It’s pretty cool.”

Soreness seemed to be a common theme among the Lady Mustangs after their first week of practice.

“I get tired a lot quicker now than I used to,” said former LaFayette Lady Rambler Katie White, “but I’m glad to be back playing.”

Other members of the school’s first volleyball roster include former Lady Rambler Morgan Newby, Holly Tallant, Mary Neal and Alicia Phillips.

LaFayette's Tricia Goodwin will lead the Lady Mustangs on to the courts of the Technical College System of Georgia League.

Goodwin played four years at Northwood University in Midland, Mich. (1989-1992) were she served as co-captain of the team.

During her playing days at Northwood, she went to four NAIA national tournaments with third-place being the team’s best finish.

She has coached volleyball in Michigan, Tennessee and north Georgia, mostly with Junior Olympic teams, including most recently the North Georgia Phoenix.

Goodwin got the job after putting in an application at the request of her neighbor, Dr. Melinda McCannon, Northwestern Vice President of Academic Affairs.

“She knew that I played, but she didn’t know I coached,” Goodwin recalled. “They were looking for someone to coach the team and she asked me if I knew someone. I told her I coached and she asked me to put in my application.”

Goodwin said this team would be unlike any other she has ever coached.

“Usually with club ball, people come to us and pay to play,” she explained. “We didn’t get to do any recruiting here. Some of the girls have played club ball and high school ball and some haven’t and we don’t have a lot of time to get it all together.

"But I’m hoping the other teams (in the league) are in the same situation. We have what we have and we have to make it work.”

But that doesn’t mean Goodwin isn’t excited about the players she does have.

“We have lots of local players and the level of high school play around here is good and getting better,” she said. “So we’re excited with what we do have and I think we’re going to be pretty competitive.”

“I like her,” White said of Goodwin. “She’s really nice and she knows what she’s doing and what she’s talking about. I think we’re really going to have a great team.”

“One of our better players, Carrie Hawkins, played club ball for us with the Phoenix,” said Goodwin, who will be assisted by Rock Spring resident, Billy Newcom, the director of the Phoenix. “We’re just ecstatic to have her, but we’ve also got some really good players that could have played college ball, they just chose not to for whatever reason.”

The Lady Mustangs will face the likes of Coosa Valley Tech and West Central Tech while a fourth school will likely be added before the first matches of the season.

While the ladies are excited to be a part of the school’s first-ever team, they are also well aware of the high level of success set by the men’s basketball team, who recently finished their first season with a perfect 11-0 record.

Long said keeping the new tradition of winning going is something Northwestern’s students are already talking about.

“We’ve heard that a lot,” she said, “but I think we have a team capable of playing well. Even though we’ve only been practicing for a week or so, I think we’ve got good potential on this team.”

“I called (men’s basketball) Coach (David) Stephenson right after I got the job to ask him a few questions,” Goodwin said, “and I asked him if he thought he could have set the standard any higher and he said it was just luck of the draw.

“I think everyone understands since we aren’t recruiting, it really is luck of the draw and who shows up to play, but I think with what I’ve seen in these girls so far, we going to do our best to meet that goal also.”

The inaugural TCS volleyball season will begin on April 5 in Carrollton as all participating colleges will face-off in a tournament-style event.

A similar event will be held at Georgia Highlands College in Rome the following Saturday.

Northwestern will make its home debut on April 19 at LaFayette High School against the Coosa Valley Bruins.

The only other home appearance for the Lady Mustangs will be on May 10 as they will host all the TCS teams in an event in LaFayette