Celebrating
The Best of 2002

'Tis the season to hand out awards. The coaches have already named their all-everything teams. The sportswriters will probably soon select theirs, although considering the lack of volleyball coverage statewide we wonder how many of those voting actually saw most of the top teams and players they are voting on. And we're no Scrooges, so we've compiled our own awards for the high school season.

First, a disclaimer. We are not selecting an All-Texas team. We did that back in August. With input from recruiters, coaches and our own observations, we identified the state's best based on performances against the nation's top players over the course of a demanding club season and the potential to play at the next level. We see no reason to repeat the process a few months later since nothing happened over the course of the high school season to change our opinion on the state's top players.

Instead, we want to recognize players, coaches and teams for outstanding accomplishments during the high school campaign. And we'll admit right up front that we are biased. We prefer to recognize athletes who excel and have an impact against top competition. For that reason, a player who runs up big stats in a weak district but disappears once the competition heats up doesn't impress us. We don't put too much stock in stats, anyway, since no school seems to keep them the same way and players on teams like Red Oak that win 90 of 99 sets often don't get an opportunity to pile up big numbers. We also realize that makes it difficult for players at small schools to be recognized, since they don't often get a chance to compete against top teams and players. But to be recognized as the best, you have to do it against the best.

Volleyball is ultimately a team sport, so we begin our awards presentation by recognizing the Team of the Year.

Team of the Year

Wimberley

This was an easy decision. Westlake and Red Oak obviously had incredible years, as did Clear Creek, Stratford, Churchill and several others. But this was the season that Lee Grisham's Lady Texans proved that a school with only 600 students can, in fact, run with the big dogs. Wimberley compiled a 38-2 record that included wins over San Antonio Clark, St. Michael's, New Braunfels Canyon, Buda Hays (twice), Leander, San Antonio Judson, New Braunfels and others. They split with Boerne and took Churchill to three before losing. Not once was this group of girls intimidated — even when Grisham threw them up against Churchill and Clark in back-to-back warm up matches. The fact that the state's top 5A teams were willing to risk their reputation by playing a 3A school shows how much respect the Lady Texans earned. Ultimately, it all paid off at the state tournament. After blasting Kountze 15-1, 15-0 in the semifinals, the Lady Texans ran into an unexpected challenge in the finals against Texarkana Pleasant Grove. But Abbi Meyer, Courtney McCrocklin, Jesi Grisham, Ashley Leach, Colleen Westfall, Leah Goldstein and crew never panicked. Rather, they did what all champions do and took their game to another level to capture their second straight state title and solidify their position as one of the state and nation's premier teams.

Honorable Mention

Austin Westlake - Opened the season at #2 in our rankings, rebounded from early season losses to New Braunfels Canyon, Arlington Martin, Clear Creek and Churchill as well as a mid-season injury to Erin Miles, and this young powerhouse was hitting on all cylinders by the time the state finals rolled around.
Red Oak - Only losses in a 45-2 season came to 5A power Churchill and an upset to one of Dallas-Fort Worth's top 5A teams, Southlake Carroll, who they later beat. The Hawks lost only one set to a 4A team while piling up wins against opponents such as Arlington, Amarillo, Buda Hays, Amarillo Tascosa, Pine Tree (twice), Hereford, L.D. Bell, Arlington Lamar and Allen.
Clear Creek - Held the #1 ranking in the state for most of the season, reached #3 in the national polls and won three of the state's top tournaments. Even more impressively, this team won an amazing 36 straight matches before finally falling to Stratford in the Region III finals.
Stratford - After opening the season at the top of all the state polls and near the top of the national polls, this was a team wearing a target. Still, advancing to the championship match of the 5A state tournament two years in a row is an incredible accomplishment.
San Antonio Churchill - May have been heading toward a state title of its own before an injury to Morgan Spencer derailed them in the regional finals against Westlake.
St. Michael's Academy - Earned respect by going out and challenging the best in Texas and the nation, then rolled to a third straight TAPPS 5A title.
Windthorst - Six straight 1A titles as well as a dramatic regional final win over arch-rival Wink is reason enough to earn a mention.

Player of the Year

DeeDee Strickland
Setter, senior, Clear Creek

From start to finish, DeeDee was the cog that kept the Clear Creek machine at the top of the state rankings for much of the season, propelled them to a #3 ranking nationally, and drove a 36-match winning streak. She led Clear Creek to championships in three of the state's top tournaments, was named MVP of the state's premier event in Pearland and the talent-rich Cy Fair ISD tournament. She also earned all-tournament honors at Kingwood. DeeDee was the Houston Chronicle's Player of the Year and a Fab 50 selection. A season-ending loss to Stratford in the regional finals doesn't dilute a dream season. As Stratford, Churchill, Westlake and others will tell you, going from one end of the season to the other without a loss is almost impossible when playing at the 5A level. But with Strickland running the show, Creek almost pulled it off. Perhaps the best compliment a setter can receive came from Austin Westlake coach Al Bennett after Clear Creek beat the eventual state champions in straight sets to win the Pearland title. "She was outstanding," said Bennett. "She kept us guessing the entire match."

"(DeeDee) allowed for a shift in my coaching style," Clear Creek coach Todd Porter told the Houston Chronicle. "I could put less emphasis on coaching our offense. I released that responsibility to her. DeeDee was our leader."

"My last year was a blast," said Strickland, who plans to study pre-med in college and has not made a decision on where she will play next year. "It was what we had all dreamed of. I enjoyed being on top. I loved every minute of it."

Player of the Year
Honorable Mention

Lindsey Louis, Austin Westlake
Ryan Maspero, San Antonio Churchill
Tori Dacus, Red Oak
Jesi Grisham, Wimberley
Michelle Moriarty, Houston Stratford

Outstanding Hitter

Amber McCray
Senior, Longview Pine Tree

Easily the state's most dominating player, the 6'2" McCray again showed why she is a two-time all-America (soon to be three-time), a member of the U.S. national team and one of the top 5 recruits in the nation. Playing for a Pine Tree team that was not nearly as deep as in years past, she still led the team to a 40-2 record that included wins over some of the state's best. Pine Tree's only two losses came to Red Oak.

Outstanding Hitter
Honorable Mention

Lindsay Osco, Elkins
Krystle Brydon, Clark
Christi Hahn, Leander
Sarah Griffin, Hereford
Kate Street, Klein
Kelly McAnelly, Langham Creek
Jackie Stroud, Amarillo
Lauren Rhodes, Cy Falls
Millicent Martin, Stratford
Allie Spangle, Friendswood
Brittany Randel, Arlington
Ashley Ripple, Clear Creek
Kele Brewer, Medina Valley
Carolyn Pickett, Cy Creek
Erica Wendell, New Braunfels
Lindsey Pickens, Hays
Jaclyn Toohey, Boerne
Courtney McCrocklin, Wimberley

Outstanding Setter

Jenny Andrew
Senior, Kingwood

In a year in which Texas had more than its share of the nation's top setters, the 6'2" Andrew stood out. Named the Outstanding Setter at three of the state's elite tournaments, this future Longhorn was the primary reason that a team lacking the firepower of other Houston powerhouses pulled off major upsets and was ranked among the state's top teams all season. Honors included Most Valuable Setter at the Pearland, Kingwood and Cy Fair tournaments, Southwest region national player of the week, Houston Chronicle player of the week and the Houston Chronicle all area team.

Oustanding Setter
Honorable mention

Meghan Kainz, Austin Westlake
Amanda Jergins, New Braunfels
Amber Lohrman, Red Oak
Daniela Romero, Arlington Martin
J.J. Jones, Allen
Andee Stewart, Cy Falls

Newcomer of the Year

Shannon Davis
Sophomore, MB, Austin Westlake

From the opening weekend - when freshmen Jenny Banse (Churchill) and Mary Batis (Clark ) were named all-tournament at Duncanville - to the final week - when teams led by sophomores and juniors won the 4A and 5A state titles - this was the season of the underclassmen. And none were more impressive than Austin Westlake sophomore middle blocker Shannon Davis. Davis was instrumental in Westlake's playoff run and earned All-State Tournament honors for her role in leading the Chaps to the state title.

Newcomer of the Year
Honorable Mention

Jenny Banse, freshman, San Antonio Churchill
Mary Batis, freshman, San Antonio Clark
Taylor Barnes, freshman, Arlington Martin
Lauren Otto, freshman, Arlington
Kaci Brewer, freshman, Medina Valley

Coach of the Year (tie)

Arthur Stanfield, Red Oak

Al Bennett, Austin Westlake

We tried. We really did try to pick just one. But this was the toughest decision of them all. Even the honorable mention choices were deserving of recognition. After all, keeping your team focused enough to put together a 36-match winning streak against top competition is impressive (Todd Porter, Clear Creek). Beating powerhouse schools 3 to 4 times your size is even more impressive (Lee Grisham, Wimberley). Having the confidence to completely shake up your lineup in mid-season, then lead your team to the Final Four is also impressive (Joni McCoy, Arlington Martin). Or how about taking your team to the 5A state finals not once, but twice in a row (Becky Palermo, Stratford)?

But when trying to identify the coach we felt accomplished the most this season, two names kept coming up — Arthur Stanfield at Red Oak and Al Bennett at Austin Westlake. Both won state championships with young teams in equally competitive classifications. Both were able to help their young teams overcome early season setbacks. Both had their teams peaking at prime time. And both always seemed to call the right time out or make the right substitution or pull the right string when their teams seemed on the verge of losing control. So do you go with the coach whose team was expected to be a state powerhouse and was able to overcome a mid-season injury to a key player without missing a beat (Bennett)? Or do you go with the coach who took what was expected to be a good team and turned it into one of the state's elite (Stanfield)? We even thought about scheduling an arm-wrestling contest to settle the matter. Ultimately, we couldn't break the tie, so we wimped out and chose to recognize two very deserving coaches for championship performances.

Coach of the Year
Honorable Mention

Lee Grisham, Wimberley
Joni McCoy, Arlington Martin
Todd Porter, Clear Creek
Becky Palermo, Houston Stratford
Robin Gerlich, Churchill
Cindy Miksch, Klein
Michael Kane, Austin St. Michael's
Stacy Wolf, Windthorst
Teresa Sitton, Jewett Leon

2002 Special Awards

Comeback Player of the Year

Jackie Stroud
Senior, OH, Amarillo

Jackie played much of 2001 season with a pain she thought was tendonitis. She fought it with over-the-counter medicine, but the pain increased and by the end of the season she was struggling to play. When the pain became unbearable she had it checked. Doctors found a tumor that had been eating away at the bone just below her left knee for about a year. Surgeons cut out the tumor and had to take some of the bone, which they replaced with a substance that coach Jan Barker said "is kind of like a glue." Recovery took most of the club season and summer, but by Pearland the hard-hitting, 3-year starter had her sky-high vertical back, earning all-tournament honors at the prestigious event. There was no state title in 2002, but she led the Sandies to the regional semifinals and had an all-state caliber season.

Honorable Mention

Krystle Brydon, OH, San Antonio Clark - Krystle missed the first eight weeks of the season with a back injury then almost immediately returned to all-star form when she came back, leading Clark to a position among the state's top teams. She reinjured her back in the playoffs, however, thus ending the season as she started it - watching from the sidelines

Small School Player of the Year

Emilee Bolton
Pattonville Prairiland

Since her team never competed against the top 4A or 5A teams, we'll never know how this two-time 2A MVP would have fared against bigger and stronger competition. Still, the team had quality wins against larger schools and her accomplishments deserve recognition. We hope some college coach gives her a chance to test her skills at a higher level. What the 5'8" sparkplug lacks in size, she makes up for in heart and talent.