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Volleyball: Nine seniors have Smith eyeing playoffs
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
With a roster that features nine seniors and nine returners with varsity experience, Newman Smith’s volleyball team is hopeful this is the season the Lady Trojan’s will return to the playoffs following a drought of six-plus years.
And while the team didn’t claim any victories in an early non-district tournament over the weekend in Grapevine, head coach Christine Gregory is pleased with the progress made as the squad gears up for play in the new-look District 10-4A.
“The tournament went well,” she said. “We probably didn’t get the wins we were looking for, but we were successful in reaching a lot of the goals we were looking to achieve. The team really gelled a lot and improved in chemistry.”
“The competition was very tough,” Gregory said. “We saw a lot of talented players and a lot of teams with tall players in the middle. We’re a pretty small and defensive-orientated team, so that was something we really needed some experience going up against.”
Last season, Smith’s defense was led by a trio of seniors who ranked in the top eight in the area in digs. In 2012, the Lady Trojans will lean on Brooke Ross, Alycia Roach and Kathryn Carter to anchor the defense.
“It’s a whole new squad in the back, but we’ve getting between 30 and 40 digs a game so far,” Gregory said. “They have a bunch of speed and can really track down balls. That’s what we’re looking for because we need our defense to keep us in points and start our offense. We’re not a powerful volleyball team. We try to get balls over and throw our opponent off. You won’t see us winning a lot of two or three-shot points and our offense has to start with our defense.”
While the Lady Trojans displayed their defensive prowess in Grapevine, it was Smith’s attack that pleased Gregory the most.
“Defense is our game, but we really did a great job on offense,” she said.
Setters for Smith are Bianca Hill and Whitney Walker.
Key players in the offensive attack include middle blockers Madeline Holden, Alexis Nezianya, Kathryn Goldstein and Vanessa Rivera.
Outside hitters are Maggie Aznavour, Sherman Chandler, Emily Martinez, Bethany Male and Jenny Wadruo.
“Holden was in the top 15 in kills last year and is still improving,” Gregory said. “The girls have been doing a really good job with soft touches and placing the ball since we don’t have a team that is going to get a ton of big powerful kills.”
With continued improvement, Gregory is confident Smith can claim a playoff spot from 10-4A, which includes Creekview, Highland Park, Forney, North Forney, West Mesquite, Mesquite Poteet and Terrell.
“Our goal is to get in the top four and into the playoffs,” Gregory said. “We play a tough preseason schedule to prepare us for that and hopefully it pays off.
“I expect Creekview to be the favorite to win the district. They probably have the most well-rounded team and have a lot of players back. Highland Park was a bunch of sophomores last year and is now a year older and Poteet is a team that has contended in the past. But we saw Poteet and West Mesquite during scrimmages in the summer and held our own. I’m not as familiar with the Forneys and Terrell, but I think we will be able to run with them as well.”
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