Friday, Aug. 29, 2008

Lady Mustangs Seek Team Leaders

GHS Volleyball

By John English

Contributing Writer

Things did not go as planned in the for the Grapevine volleyball team in the Allen tournament last weekend, as the Lady Mustangs dropped four of five games, but coach Diane Wilson said it became clear what the team needs.

Grapevine rebounded from the 1-4 showing at Allen to defeat Frisco Wakeland 3-0 on Tuesday night.

"Right now is an opportunity to fine-tune and learn about the team," Wilson said on Monday. "I did feel like we learned that we needed some leadership, so we are working on that this week in practice. I talked to the girls, so there is always something you can take out of it."

Wilson said the competition level was very high in the Allen tournament, but said she still felt like her team was competitive.

"I think there were some teams that we could have challenged a little better than we did, and fell a little short," Wilson said. "But, it was a faster paced competition than some of what we have been facing so far this season."

Wilson said her team is still in high spirits after the tournament and said she does not believe her players’ confidence was at all shaken by the performance at Allen.

"They are fine," Wilson said. "When we talked about some of the things we saw going wrong, they acknowledged it. "They felt that way as well, and they were excited to have the opportunity to start working on it."

Wilson said the biggest problem her team faced in the game were execution issues and said she believes a lot of those problems will subside once a team leader is established.

"We’re just having unforced errors and lack of direction," Wilson said. "We haven’t had someone that they just look to right now for the motivational leader and then also the statistical leader. We’re going to work to find somebody to help direct them."

Wilson said she has in mind the player or players that she would like to see step into that type of role, but would not specify who, and said some of it depends on players stepping up on their own.

Wilson said she did have good tournaments from Cathleen Childs and Jessica Slusser.

"They are both outside hitters for us, and they played probably the most consistent out of anyone," Wilson said.

Grapevine will compete in the Pearland tournament this weekend, and Wilson said she hopes her team leaders will start to emerge there.

"Since we know that we’re lacking leadership, I’m hoping through the preparation this week, we can see some consistency in that leadership," Wilson said. "I think our skills will improve once they realize who they can rely on."