Twin Tales, Part 4: Wolfe County's Nobles

Two of the mountain regions saw big leaps forward in the state tournament this past fall. The 15th Region champion Paintsville Tigers and 14th Region champion Knott County Central Patriots both advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first times in school history. Not only that, they were both just the second teams from each region to do so since the state tournament broke into 16 regions in 2003.   Wolfe County junior twin sisters [player_tooltip player_id='212195' first='Naoma' last='Noble'] nicknamed Na (left) and [player_tooltip player_id='212194' first='Abby' last='Noble'] (right) hope to be part of some next steps for the mountain regions. Prior to last season, the Wolfe County Wolves had won the 14th Region three out of the previous four seasons, but were unable to advance to the state quarterfinals at George Rogers Clark despite hosting all three state first round games. The first loss in 2020 came to the eventual state champion Notre Dame Pandas.   The twins played on the last two region championship teams as freshmen and sophomores in 2022 and 2023. The Wolves lost to three-time defending 13th Region champion Whitley County both years.   Wolfe County started off the past season rough at 2-11, but rebounded to finish 11-19, win a third straight 55th District championship then advance to the region title game for the third straight year and fourth time in five seasons. The Wolves had just one senior last season and she wound up moving away.   The twins did receive some varsity experience as seventh and eighth graders at 55th District rival Breathitt County before moving to Wolfe County as freshmen. The two helped the Bobcats win their last district championship in 2021.   The Noble twins discussed their journeys together among other things. [player_tooltip player_id='212194' first='Abby' last='Noble'] is currently nursing a torn Anterior Cruciated Ligament injury and Na Noble is playing basketball for the Wolves and volleyball for the [program_tooltip program_id='740321' first='Bluegrass' last='Volleyball Academy'].   Growing up with twin sister   Na: The most enjoyable aspect of growing up playing volleyball together has been always having the ability to rely on one another. With the reassurance given between the both of us, it has created a higher level of confidence on and off the court.   Abby: The most enjoyable aspect of growing up while playing volleyball with my twin, Na, is always knowing I have someone to pick me up, challenge me, and push me to work harder than anyone else. We keep each other uplifted as well as working together to improve our skills and levels of the game.   Building solid tradition at Wolfe County   Na: Being able to bring home two regional crowns after entering high school is a big deal for me and my twin, Abby. When we first moved to Wolfe County, we wanted to make a big name for ourselves. We worked every day relentlessly to catch up to the skill level of the returning players of the past season.  We secured two starting spots to help contribute to back-to-back regional titles. With the hard work and determination put into the sport during those years, it's worth doing to 100 times again.    Abby: Being able to win two of our three regional titles since 2020 while in high school has been so incredible. It can show anyone as long as you put the effort, resilience, and hard work in, then anything can be accomplished. Na and I had put in countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears; our persistence and grit that was shown to the team led to hard work and more effort among all the girls.   On deep postseason run despite early adversity   Na: After this past season with five seniors that played important roles graduating and four spots opening up on the floor, Abby and I had big shoes to fill. With new athletes starting in the rotation, it took some time adjusting to their play and teaching them how to communicate and persevere through the physical and mental struggles of the sport. When we won districts and made it to regional title game all the long practices, extra work, and determination was worth it in the end. It gave our team confidence in our ability to play together even though we had struggled in the beginning. We gave a good show to all the fans and to ourselves as well. That saying we made a name for ourselves and we will start where we left off this upcoming season.    Abby: Being able to win districts and go to the regional title game this past year was extremely gratifying to Na and I. Although in the end we didn't win regions, Na and I stepped up as leaders and the rest of the team showed that they could step up with important roles to help the team as a whole. This year was difficult for the team more mentally than anything and I believe that going as far as we did this year will help the team in the future believe in themselves and know that they can be good as long as they continue to put in the hard, consistent work.     Making sure everyone improves in offseason   Na: As upcoming seniors, Abby and I see many kids from eighth through the 12th grade playing club ball. Even though not everyone is playing we still have the ones that aren't participating in club in the gym getting work in. This varies from fundamental work to getting in full work out in the weight room. We believe in keeping everyone in the best shape possible throughout the offseason so we can continue to improve in our skills during season. Keeping our bodies healthy in the offseason is very important. Keeping our team fundamentally sound helps the progress of our team continue to raise in and out of season.    Abby: Na and I have made sure that we will continue to keep pushing the girls and doing as much as they can to improve. We have many girls ranging from eighth grade all the way to seniors doing club. Even though not everyone is doing club this offseason, we make sure to keep the girls in the gym working on fundamentals and their skills or working out to stay in shape.    Growing playing for [program_tooltip program_id='740321' first='Bluegrass' last='Volleyball Academy']   Na: Blue Grass Volleyball Academy has helped improve my level of play, pushing me to running a more elevated level of offense. With playing tough competition, it pushes me to learn a faster paced game. There isn't much room for error, this allows me to be able to handle tough situations and being able to play through them. BVA has given me insight into college level play.  They have given me lots of opportunity to show my skill set in close matches and have relied on me to make tough plays. They push you to your full potential creating confidence within our ability to perform under pressure and allowed me to create a confident leveled mindset. Playing club ball has allowed me to make many lifelong friendships and made me learn to play outside of my comfort zone. I have become more social and I have had to adapt to the skill set of other players then to the ones I am used to playing with on my home court. It has been an amazing opportunity to elevate my confidence and my performance.   Abby: Playing for [program_tooltip program_id='740321' first='Bluegrass' last='Volleyball Academy'] has helped grow my game immensely. The coaches, staff, and players have all helped give me insight on different techniques to help me raise my level of gameplay in all aspects. They do a great job critiquing and criticizing which help all the girls greatly. Branching out and playing with different players from other schools also help me be social and learn how to adjust to different playing styles rather than the ones I'm used to while playing with my high school team.    Consistent serving   Na: With putting 57 aces in the books for the year the key to being consistent was having correct footwork and having the same routine. Abby and I worked on low hard serves in-between seems to confuse the defense on the other side of the net. This allowed less time for them to communicate between each other and created the pace for the play. Serving is the most important part of the game in my opinion. Serving is the start to every play for both teams, without consistent serving it's hard to win games. Abby and I both make sure to get an hour of serving practice in before or after practice times.    Abby: The key to consistent serving is continuing to stay in the gym every day working on it. Even if we don't work on it in practice, Na and I usually come about an hour early or we stay after for about an hour. We work on low, flat serves so the defensive players don't have much time to get to the ball. We also work on aiming for seams, a spot in between two players so they have to decide which person will get the ball, or open areas on the court. Footwork is also a big deal with keeping your serve consistent. You have to make sure you have the right steps down and continue to do the same thing each time.   Areas of focus in offseason   Na: The general focus in the offseason for me is keeping in shape for the upcoming season as well as keeping my fundamentals in check. I like to practice serving and passing in the off season. With being on a club team, I get many reps for hitting and blocking so I like to keep my serving and passing fresh for the new season. Not many athletes talk about how challenging sports are mentally so I also like to do mental exercises such as learning the game more in depth making sure to uplift my teammates and keeping myself busy throughout off season. In sports mentality is so important that something I live by. You have to stay mentally strong and off season is a great time to work on that.   Abby: Some general areas of focus for us with our team is continuing to work hard. We have to learn to be consistent from anywhere on the court. Whether that is behind the serving line, serve receive, setting, or hitting. We all have room to improve and we will all improve together. We have to stay in the gym and continue to work on things that can be done better. Being consistent takes a lot of reps and we will continue to stay in the gym every day with our team so we can be as consistent as possible.    Turning into a sound all-around player   Na: Becoming an all-around player was very challenging as I had to overcome many obstacles but I didn't allow myself to be just one skill player. I had a mindset that if I wanted to be good, I needed to be an all-around player. I worked every day two-three times a day on skills I wasn't as sound in and became good at them. In anything in life if you put your mind to it and have determination you can do anything. I had great teammates pushing me hard and a great support system from coaches and family. In the past three years, I have improved my skill set but I have much more to work on. In life there is always someone ahead of you so never stop working as you are never the best. Continuously work and it will pay off in the future.   Putting a lot of power into balls   Na: The key to putting a lot of power into balls is your hip rotation you can have upper body strength but when you use your lower body it increases tremendously. Getting power on the ball takes getting in the gym and working on yourself. Lots of hip rotation and using your core. Getting topspin on the ball helps it hit the ground faster as well. Lots of reps and hard work will get you very far as a hitter.   Successfully setting up hitters   Abby: The key to being on the same page with any hitter as a setter is communication. I communicate with all of my hitters and we work on it during practice or we get in the gym even when there isn't practice. Getting reps is a huge part of being able to get that setter hitter connection. Once the connection between me and the hitters gets better we can start running better offenses. Once we start to trust each other, I can start calling different offenses and the hitters can expect what kind of set they will get.   Staying in shape while nursing injury   Abby: Dealing with an ACL injury, I am continuing to stay in shape by either going to physical therapy or working out in the gym on my own. I am currently going to physical therapy three days a week as well as going to the gym to workout six days a week. In physical therapy I am building muscle up in both my legs and am working resiliently on getting muscle back in my quad. I work with weights and each and every day I am continuing to make improvements. When I am working out in the gym I work on legs, core, and arms. I do legs every day and switch up core and arms each time I go.   Note from Mom and Dad   It has been such a pleasure watching Abby and Na learn to love the game of volleyball from an early age. As they got older, their love of the game grew to the point that it seemed like they ate, slept and breathed volleyball. Volleyball's influence has made Abby and Na into the young ladies that they are today from strengthening the bond that already had, learning leadership, problem solving and developing a work ethic that was truly amazing to watch. They practiced together and seemed to just know how to compliment each other's respective talents and strengths and incorporate other into the game. Maturing into wonderful, respectful, independent young ladies has been mine and Glenn's greatest joy. - Mom and Dad (Lori and Glenn Noble)    Wolfe County head coach Ben White said Noble is the best player he's ever coached for great reasons. She brings energy every play trying to do whatever she can to help the Wolves win. Noble consistently finds different ways to put balls down mixing in a variety of hard and soft hits from all six positions on the court. Noble also does a great job making sound passes then transitioning quickly back to offense. Noble brings an added dimension with her hard serves. Noble had 352 kills, 210 digs and 57 aces last season for the Wolves in 23 games, helping them win a third straight 55th District crown and make it back to the region championship for the third year in a row.     Noble has a strong connection with her twin sister and has made strides doing that for the other Wolfe County hitters. She lands a variety of short and long sets including ones to the back row. Noble is also a strong passer and server for the Wolves. She has a tough line drive jump serve. Noble had 606 assists and 156 digs along with a team-high 70 aces in 25 games for the Wolves last season.    Note from the Writer   Mike Graham has been writing for Prep Dig for one year and has enjoyed getting to know the volleyball scenes in both Kentucky and Ohio. 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Two of the mountain regions saw big leaps forward in the state tournament this past fall. The 15th Region champion Paintsville Tigers and 14th Region champion Knott County Central Patriots both advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first times in school history. Not only that, they were both just the second teams from each region to do so since the state tournament broke into 16 regions in 2003.