Mingo works to improve volleyball skills

Last year was the first time Daylynn Mingo played volleyball and the Neshoba Central senior quickly made it her favorite sport.

“I had never played before,” Mingo said. “When we started last year, I was contemplating whether I wanted to play or not. Once I started, I really liked it.

“After the season, I started playing on a club team Southern Select Volleyball. I played with them a couple of months and it went on from there.”

Six team members played in club teams in Meridian and Jackson. They even went to Atlanta to play.

“There were college coaches there,” Mingo said. “No one was talking to us but I think they were watching. I am hoping to get to play somewhere on the college level.

Mingo had played softball up until this year but now she is focusing all of her efforts on volleyball.

“I won’t be playing softball this spring,” Mingo said. “Volleyball is different. There is a lot of action and a lot of teamwork. You have to be aggressive, talk a lot and go after the ball. We are trying to get together.”

The Lady Rockets went undefeated their first regular season. They made it to the second round of the playoffs before being eliminated by Lake Cormorant, a much more experienced team.

“That one stuck with me,” said Mingo. “I want for us to do better in the playoffs. But they had been playing for a long time.”

This year’s team stands at 9-0. They play in the same region as Starkville and New Hope.

Mingo is an all-A’s student. Math is her favorite subject, and one day she wants to become a dentist.

In her free time, she likes to hang out with friends and family. She has been going to Neshoba Central since the sixth grade. She spent grades K-5 at Pearl River Elementary School. She is the daughter of Candice and Demando Mingo.

“She is a real good athlete and a two-year starter,” said Coach Zach Sanders. “She has seemed to pick the sport up. She is an all-around good player — a good front-row player and back-row player. She is dedicated to the sport. After we got started, she played a season with us and then went off and played club ball. She came back and had really improved her game. She does well in the classroom, one of those students you don’t ever have any problems with.”