Coach: Underclassmen excited to play, fun to coach

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

The Exeter High School volleyball program closed out the 2025 season meeting its goals, building confidence and competing with the future in mind.

“We had a very successful season this year,” said Stephanie Crumpler, Lady Tigers volleyball coach. “With only seven girls — and more than half of them having never seen any varsity time before — I am incredibly proud of how our season turned out. 

“It’s not easy to prepare players who are coming straight from middle school for varsity-level volleyball. They’re literally going up against 18-year-olds, and the pace of the game is completely different. However, these girls rose to the challenge and did an amazing job.”

One match stood out as the defining moment for the young roster.

“One game that stands out the most has to be our match against Galena in the first round of districts,” Crumpler said. “We had previously played Galena earlier in the season and taken them to four sets. I knew these girls were capable of competing against a very good Galena team — a team that had made it to sectionals just last season.

“During districts, we took Galena to five sets and played for two hours. It was an incredible game. The set scores were 25–20, 20–25, 8–25, 27–25, and 12–15.”

The season also marked the final campaign for two seniors who left a significant impact on the program.

“We are losing two incredible leaders and players this year: Shea Hilburn and Zeanndrea Brown,” Crumpler said. “Zeanndrea has been our starting setter since her sophomore year. She was just 13 assists away from reaching 1,000 career assists. Shea Hilburn is an all-around outstanding athlete. She was a dominant outside hitter and a back-to-back all-conference player.

“Both girls truly stepped up this year when it came to mentoring and teaching our younger players. They understood how important it was to guide these girls and lift them up when they needed it.”

Crumpler added the younger players were excited about playing the game and progress being made.

“The underclassmen are eager to learn and work well together,” Crumpler said. “I love how excited they are to play the game and they are fun to coach.”

The Lady Tigers matched last year’s win, total despite challenges along the way.

“We won the same number of games we did last year, which was 8,” Crumpler said. “Our goal was to win at least the same amount as last year, and we met that goal.

“This year, we had to pull out of the TJ Tournament due to not having enough players that weekend. I feel like we would’ve had more wins this season if we had been able to compete in that tournament.”

Exeter finished the season 8-13-3. Looking ahead, the focus shifts to fine-tuning execution and raising the level of consistency throughout every match.

“My goal for the team next year is to be more consistent each set with the pace we are playing at and to finish each set strong,” Crumpler said.