Cumberland County Lady Jet volleyball player Laila Howard is stepping into her new roles.
Howard is a setter for the Lady Jets. She also has coached the junior varsity team last season. Howard said she continues to want to be the best at everything she does.
“If I make a mistake, I know how I need to fix it,” Howard said. “It’s helped me like tell the girls like if they’re passing, hey, you need to shrug your shoulders and get down and get that pass high so our setters can get it.”
Laila Howard enters her senior year at Cumberland County. Howard also plays beach volleyball in the offseason. Howard said she has been able to improve defensively in both instances.
“Going into beach, I was kind of slow but over the past few months, I’ve been able to grow up a lot,” Howard said. “It’s especially helped me setting as well, growing and grabbing all the balls. If we shank a lot, I’m hustling and trying to get the ball as fast as I can.”
Howard said she practices all the time even when she is not on a court.
“The driveway [at our house] and the road was at a hill,” Howard said. “My dad helped me a whole lot practicing trying to get me better and so when I passed and shanked it, it would go down the hill so I would have to chase it all the way down there so that kind of helped me get better.”
Laila Howard is looking to continue her volleyball career in college. Howard said she is undecided between playing beach volleyball or indoor volleyball. She is also looking into becoming a defensive specialist while playing in college.
Howard finished her high school career with 23 wins and a second place finish in the district. Howard led the team in assists this season with 741, as well as serving aces with 79.