After a competitive 2016 season, the Pike County Lady Bulldogs are ready to “step up” in 2017.

The Bulldogs finished last season 7-10 and have adopted the phrase “step up” as the motto heading into 2017.

“We are coming off a somewhat decent season last year,” said head coach Todd Reynolds. “Our motto this year is step it up. We are trying to swing that (record) this year and maybe have the first winning record maybe ever; trying to get the players to buy into it.”

Reynolds believes it could be a tough sell because of the lack of success the program has seen over the last few years.

This year though, Reynolds will have the benefit of coaching some familiar faces. He coached many of this year’s players in basketball last season.

“What the ones that play both sports should begin to understand is where I am coming from,” Reynolds said. “As a result they start to understand what my expectations are. I am hoping that begins to show itself a little bit more this year.”

It’s been a slow-go so far for the Lady Bulldogs, sustaining a couple of injuries in the early going.

“We are trying to get the format squared away as far as what our attack plan is going to be,” Reynolds said. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks, but we are starting to turn the corner a little bit.”

Finishing a game under .500, the Bulldogs saw a lot of inconsistent play last year. That’s something that Reynolds wants to see cleaned up.

“I think any coach’s dream is to have some degree of consistency,” Reynolds said. “So he can have a realistic expectation of what a player will bring from game to game. I think one of the demons from last year was that inconsistency. That’s why we were 7-10 and not 10-7.”

The Bulldogs finished in fourth place in a tough area a season ago, and even though they will have to contend with Providence and Houston Academy, they would like to finish even higher this season.

“It’s a killer area,” Reynolds said. “We have Providence and Houston Academy. We came in a tie for fifth and we beat Daleville in the first round of the playoffs. I don’t think it’s unrealistic for me to think we can challenge for the three spot and take our chances with maybe a Houston Academy. Providence is a machine, but I’m thinking we have some things go our way, we could challenge Houston Academy for that second seed.”

The Bulldogs bring along two seniors and five juniors.

“We have a little bit more of a seasoned team that may take off a little more than last year,” Reynolds said.

The Bulldogs begin their season on August 31 when they travel to take on Red Level at 4 p.m.