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Sights and Sounds From Lone Star, Part 2
LoneStarVolleyball teamed with PrepVolleyball.com to provide continuous coverage of the Lone Star qualifier over the weekend. The following story appeared on the popular national web site on April 20 and is reprinted here by permission of PrepVolleyball.com
April
20 — You know you’re in Texas when you see a player
warming up in a “Chigger Festival” t-shirt. That’s what
Crown of Texas Bombers outside Jackie Strauss
was sporting Saturday as she warmed up for the team’s match with
Texas Assault. Strauss says she’s not sure what
you do at a chigger festival. “Someone gave me the shirt,”
she said. “I’ve never been to the festival.”
Strauss and her teammates were itching for the return of 6'1" middle Julie Hamilton and setter Kourtney Dunnam, who had prom and missed Friday’s matches and the start of Saturday play. Knowing they would be without their setter, COT called on the services of Hereford setter Catherine Beville, who hadn’t played since the state tournament. She picked up right where she left off.
Dunnam arrived in time to set the last rotation of COT’s second match Saturday, a win over Texas Assault. Hamilton arrived just in time to finish the match with a kill and a solo block. Both players looked like they didn’t get a lot of sleep Friday night but, hey, it’s prom.
COT, which begins Sunday in the hunt for the 18s Club title (they finished tied for fifth), won Lone Star two years ago as 15s. This year’s team probably should be playing in the 17s division since most of the players are juniors. They decided to play 18s this year so a few area seniors who didn’t have scholarships would have a chance to be seen by college recruiters. It paid off for libero Kristen Dudding on Saturday when she received an offer from Troy State.
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You
also know you’re in Texas when your
head coach is shouting instructions in Spanish during time outs and a
translator is trying to keep up. That, of course, is what it’s like
to play for El Paso Wildfire 18s, which won its pool
on Saturday and is also in the hunt for the 18s Club title (Wildifre finished
second in the club division).
Most Texans know the Wildfire story, but this has been the first chance for many to see the team in person. The team, which includes many of the top players from El Paso, is very young and very short (no player over 5-11). It also is very good, having finished third at this year’s Fiesta Classic and coming off a first place finish in Silver City and a third place finish at the Sonoran classic in Phoenix where they lost only to Nike Northwest and Delta Valley and beat Arizona Juniors for a medal.
Wildfire is coached by Jose Luis Chacon, a high school coach in Juarez, Mexico, who crosses the border three times a week to coach the team. During his 17-year coaching career in Mexico, he has coached five national championship men’s Open teams and has coached an 18s girls team to a second place finish at nationals. He speaks very little English, so most of his coaching is done through a translator or gestures.
“We figure it out,” said Jordan Bostic, the El Paso Times high school MVP, between matches. “We usually can tell when he’s mad and we can tell when he’s happy.”
“The toughest part is trying to give instructions during a match,” Chacon says through a translator. “But I’m learning more English and the girls are learning more Spanish.”
“I think it’s cool,” said Savannah Leeper, a MB who is only 5-9. “In Mexico the focus is all on defense and that’s perfect for us since we aren’t very tall.”
Of course having a coach who doesn’t speak English can result in confusion at times. The players’ favorite story involves early practices when Chacon kept telling them to “fasten their feet.’ “He was trying to tell us to run faster,” said Bostic.
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Color-coordinated:
future lone star Lydia Hillebrand (photo at right) obviously coordinated
her dress with the practice balls used by her older sister Jessica's Texas
Assault 16 team.
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If you were looking for a college coach on Saturday, the best place to check was on court 14 or 15. That’s where two loaded pools in 17 Open were being decided. Court 14 had Austin Juniors, Tampa Bay, Alamo and North Dallas. Court 15 had Centex, Dallas Skyline, Dallas Summit and TAV. At times the coaches were two deep behind the end of the court. Alamo and Centex won the pools.
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Texas Advantage 16s, who have rolled through their first two pools, are trying to qualify in their third straight qualifier. They have a second and a first place finish in their two previous events. If they make it three in a row on Sunday, they will do it without popular coach Jason Nicholson. Nicholson, who is recovering from a form of cancer, developed a chest infection this week so doctors thought it would be best if he stay home this weekend to recover. TAV’s Liz Underwood has returned to the bench for Nicholson this weekend. Jason should be back on the sidelines by the team’s next tournament.
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The best t-shirt we’ve seen this weekend was being worn by a dad. In big bold letters on the front it said, “Set My Daughter.” The dad disappeared around a corner and we could never chase him down to see if the shirt was working.
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Finally, it was painful watching Marcie Hampton sitting on the bench in street clothes Saturday evening as her Team Texas squad took on Sports Performance. Hampton, who injured her right knee earlier in the day against Nevada Juniors, was looking forward to having a chance to play against Spri’s Katie Bruzdzinski. Hampton, Bruzdzinski and Team Texas setter Michelle Moriarty were teammates on the US Youth National Team and became close friends.
Hampton injured her knee running a slide and it was obviously swollen. Trainers had her walking without crutches since initial reports are that it may be a sprained ACL and torn cartilage. She’ll have an MRI on Monday to find out for sure. Hampton, considered perhaps the nation’s top recruit for 2004, was trying to be positive Saturday night, but “it’s sore and it just doesn’t feel very stable right now,” she said.
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Sights and Sounds From Lone Star, Part 1
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