The Dawson County High School volleyball team hosted its first scrimmage on Monday against the White County Lady Warriors.

The new courts at the high school are completely finished and with the first ever volleyball season set to start in August this was an opportunity for the team.

"Today was instrumental for us in so many ways," said Coach Tanya Porter. "I thought we did fairly well with the skill component of the game, but we are still very inexperienced with the knowledge part of our game."

White County coach Laura Gazaway is a youth and summer program director for Lanier Volleyball Club with extensive coaching experience.

"She helped me back in the spring when we first found out that we were having a team and has been a great resource since then," said Porter.

Gazaway and her team worked with Porter and players from DCHS to learn new drills that would cover fundamentals prior to the scrimmage games.

The teams hustled through the drills and worked on communication on court.

"We've spent the majority of our summer testing girls at a variety of positions to try to find the right combination and fit, but today confirmed that it's time that we start making some more permanent decisions so that the girls can get used to some sort of consistent pattern," Porter said.

Before scrimmage play, Porter told the players that they will benefit as much from watching as playing and that every opportunity at this point is a learning opportunity.

Coaches walked girls through the basics of rotating players on court as well as specifics of substituting and etiquette.

"We have a lot to iron out when it comes to rotations and positions. I think today really made that crystal clear to us, the coaching staff and to the girls as well," Porter said.

The first match on the schedule for Dawson County is Aug. 11 at Lakeview Academy in Gainesville.