Tharp Era Set to Start for Lady Wolves

Last season saw the Lady Wolves qualify for the NJCAA Region 23 Quarterfinals for the third straight season, but the season ended in a 3-0 loss to Holmes. The 2025 season will feature a lot of new faces for the squad including a new head coach in Joe Joe Tharp who says he is excited and ready to get the season started and has high expectations for the squad.

"I think really highly of our team especially seeing how they have pushed each other in preseason, and I think that will lead to us performing well in the regular season," stated Tharp. "Preseason camp was extremely competitive, and we have a lot of depth on the squad. It will be nice as a coach to bring talent off the bench when we need to rotate and maintain the same quality play and energy consistently during a match."

The roster for the Lady Wolves has 26 players on it including 16 sophomores or redshirt freshman including 13 returners from last year's team, one transfer sophomore, and two redshirt freshmen that were with the Lady Wolves last season. All 13 returning players for the Lady Wolves played in at least eight matches for the squad last season and Coach Tharp said he likes how that sets this year's team up for success.

"I think that presence is very important not only for me being a new head coach, but also for our incoming freshmen because they are being shown what motivation is necessary at this level," said Tharp. "That group of veterans has come in and set the standard and they are pushing to get better as individuals and as a team in each practice. I hope that continues to move forward throughout the season."

The group of 16 includes Olivia Conway (Huddersfield, England), Reagan Fortenberry (Brookhaven), Natalie Crapps (Pass Christian), Mary Hayden Logan and Madeline Logan both from Brandon, Nimue Cutrer (St. Martin), Michalea Sannoh (London, England), Sara Pinzon (Starkville), Maddie Overton (Madison), Elizabeth Jones and Marlie Jones (transfer from Jones) both of Madison, Rylee Raymond (Florence), Amelia Bubb (St. George's Grenada), Kristina Seymour (Madison), Campbell Miller (Madison) and Isabella Moore (Starkville).

The ten incoming freshmen include Katherine Romero (Bude), Frankie Lockley (St. Martin), Evie Manders (Shewbury, England), Ella-Mai Bale and Jess Abrantes both from Peterbrough, England, Carmen Johnson (Hurley), Brynn Guthrie (Pearl), Ava Martinez (Madison), Addison Hiestand (Hurley), and Aylin Olmedo (Carthage). Tharp said he's really excited about what this group brings to the squad and has high expectations for what they will do this season.

"I think Ella is going to be one to watch playing up front for us. She is a very strong finisher and scored a ton of goals for her club and got the call up to the first team before she came here," stated Tharp. "Ella is very confident going into the season, but I think Evie and Jess are very strong competitors too. That group is going to make our freshmen group very tough for our opponents to deal with throughout the season.

The Lady Wolves schedule features four preseason ranked opponents including the last two national champions in No. 1 Northwest and No. 10 Jones along with No. 4 Holmes and No. 15 Pearl River. Coach Tharp says he still likes his team's chances of being right in the fight against each squad.

"I think that this squad has a chance of finishing in the top four and we hope to have good performances against all of those top teams," said Tharp. "I think our talent level is set to show improvement from last year because our attack will be threatening while we will have a strong defense with Olivia in goal behind them, I really like our squad's chances this season."

Coach Tharp says success for this year's squad is very simple.

"We want to hit all of our team goals, and the first one is to make the second round of the playoffs," added Tharp. "But for me as a coach is to make this program one that people want to come be a part of and play for years to come."

The Lady Wolves kick off the season on the road against Southwest on Sunday, August 24 and will have their home opener on September 16 hosting the Lady Bears.