Ok so as you can see we have a new team photo up top. These are the 11 players we will have on our team this year, with a manager that will join us once school starts. I'll have another updated picture then. In the meantime, our new indivisual photos have been posted at the school's website.
Finally, shout out to Chelby Stanford, incoming freshman setter. Her All-Star team won in a 3 game sweep last week at the TGCA (Texas Girls Coaching Association) All-Star game. Chelby set in every game and even got in a few swings to show off her versatility. We're very excited she got to experience this wonderful event!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Going to JO's!
Just want to give a shout out to two of our incoming freshmen for qualifying for the Junior Olympic's begin held in Columbus, Ohio.
- DS Becca Guevara and her club team Net Force qualified in the 18's American Division, losing in the championship match of their region tournament. I'm very, very excited that Becca and her team get to attend nationals and I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do at this high level of play.
- MB Alex Wells and her Austin Performance team qualified in the 18's National Division, losing in the region tournament championship as well. This team had come close to qualifying in earlier tournaments, but they finally got it done in Austin this past weekend. Now they get to compete at the National level, which will be a great way to get Alex prepared for this season.
- DS Becca Guevara and her club team Net Force qualified in the 18's American Division, losing in the championship match of their region tournament. I'm very, very excited that Becca and her team get to attend nationals and I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do at this high level of play.
- MB Alex Wells and her Austin Performance team qualified in the 18's National Division, losing in the region tournament championship as well. This team had come close to qualifying in earlier tournaments, but they finally got it done in Austin this past weekend. Now they get to compete at the National level, which will be a great way to get Alex prepared for this season.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
New signee
Sorry about the late post. I had a few meetings this morning and then we had practice on the sand court at 11 am. But the wait is worth it because now we can announce our latest signee!
Becca Guevara, a defensive specialist from El Paso, is officially a Lady Rebel! She comes to us from Montwood High School, and also Net Force Volleyball Club, where she is the libero. I saw Becca play first at the Houston Crosscourt tournament after speaking with her coaches over the phone and via e-mail. She is a great kid from an athletic family who will fit in very nicely here in Hillsboro. She is someone that we see coming in and competing for the libero position, but we can also use her in any defensive area. Becca also has extensive experience in high school and club and she will definitely make us better!
One more post tomorrow, probably early as I am at the Lone Star Classic recruiting.
Becca Guevara, a defensive specialist from El Paso, is officially a Lady Rebel! She comes to us from Montwood High School, and also Net Force Volleyball Club, where she is the libero. I saw Becca play first at the Houston Crosscourt tournament after speaking with her coaches over the phone and via e-mail. She is a great kid from an athletic family who will fit in very nicely here in Hillsboro. She is someone that we see coming in and competing for the libero position, but we can also use her in any defensive area. Becca also has extensive experience in high school and club and she will definitely make us better!
One more post tomorrow, probably early as I am at the Lone Star Classic recruiting.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Observations
Some notes:
Here is a brief article about our recent signee Anita Permenter. Like we've mentioned previously, Anita is going to be a huge part of our success next season and we are very excited to have her here at Hill.
Anita Permenter Article
Here is a picture of our freshmen yesterday at the sand court. After next week they won't be freshmen anymore! (sophomores have been released because we have finished our spring season)
Finally, we received our new furniture for the locker room today so we're halfway done our remodeling. Now it's just new lights and decorations. Yeah, we talk about a lot in the Hill College Volleyball blog.
Tomorrow and Friday we'll discuss a new signee and go in depth into next seasons schedule.
Here is a brief article about our recent signee Anita Permenter. Like we've mentioned previously, Anita is going to be a huge part of our success next season and we are very excited to have her here at Hill.
Anita Permenter Article
Here is a picture of our freshmen yesterday at the sand court. After next week they won't be freshmen anymore! (sophomores have been released because we have finished our spring season)
Tomorrow and Friday we'll discuss a new signee and go in depth into next seasons schedule.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Scrimmage recap
This past Saturday we participated in a spring tournament at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB). We played 3 matches, 3 sets in each, giving us the opportunity to get some much needed court time and build on the skills and fundamentals we've been working on over the spring.
Our first match was against Howard Payne. Having never seen Howard Payne play before, I had no idea what to expect. After a little bit of a slow start, the team started to play pretty well. We reached our goal with serve receive in game 1 and as a result were able to pull out a close win. Game two was more of the same as Cayleigh Drake and Camryn Kazmierski had a combined 18 kills at the end of game 2. Game 3 was a close one, with both teams having set point, but fortunately we were able to pull it out in the end 30-28 for a three game sweep. Of course I don't have that game on tape because as always, I'm an idiot and ran out of room on the camera.
Our second match was against host UMHB. We went back and forth with them for a little bit, but they pulled away in game one to win 25-18. One of my old club players, Tina Miller, did a fantastic job against us and it took us a long time to even begin to slow her down. Also, former Hill player Anissa Garcia is now the assistant coach at UMHB. It was wonderful seeing her there after she finished a very solid senior season.
Game two was close as we lost 25-23, but we just made too many errors. We had 8 hitting errors, a missed serve, a ball handling error, and two defensive errors. All told, that's 10 points plus a couple of extra rallies we could have won. These are things we are looking clean up for next season,
In game 3 we did an excellent job of siding out. Our passing was better, which allowed us to get 17 kills in a 25 point set. Unfortunately we did miss 5 serves which allowed UMHB to hang around. We eventually won 25-20 but I would have liked to see us a little more mentally focused on the whole game and not just the side out aspect.
After a short lunch break, we finished up with Wylie. Wylie is an NAIA school that finished second in their conference, losing only to the eventual national champions from UT-Brownsville. This was a tough way to end the day for us as Wylie was the wrong team to play at this point. They forced us into playing their slow it down, take time between points, kick the volleyball a few times before kicking it under the net kind of game. It was tough for us to start our own energy after playing 6 sets in less than 3 hours and we did not do a very good job as a staff getting the team ready for this match. As a result we lost in three straight. We did not pass well, our serving game continued to abandon us. This long day is one of the reasons we do not play 3 matches in one day during the season like some other junior colleges do.
So at this point our spring season is over. First off we must acknowledge the sophomores who stayed with the program for two full season: Lauren Myers, Haley Goldwater, Brittany Berry, and Taelor Higgins. They have added much to the program and they will be successful wherever they may be in the fall.
Secondly, we made it through the spring very healthy. We have a few minor bumps and bruises, but no major injuries to speak of. That is a credit to the girl's work ethic and to our strength coach Aaron Baker. After the first round of fitness testing yesterday, all of the freshmen have added to their jumping ability and explosiveness. Hopefully we can continue this over the summer and into next season.
I will see you tomorrow for part 3 of our "Week of posts".
Our first match was against Howard Payne. Having never seen Howard Payne play before, I had no idea what to expect. After a little bit of a slow start, the team started to play pretty well. We reached our goal with serve receive in game 1 and as a result were able to pull out a close win. Game two was more of the same as Cayleigh Drake and Camryn Kazmierski had a combined 18 kills at the end of game 2. Game 3 was a close one, with both teams having set point, but fortunately we were able to pull it out in the end 30-28 for a three game sweep. Of course I don't have that game on tape because as always, I'm an idiot and ran out of room on the camera.
Our second match was against host UMHB. We went back and forth with them for a little bit, but they pulled away in game one to win 25-18. One of my old club players, Tina Miller, did a fantastic job against us and it took us a long time to even begin to slow her down. Also, former Hill player Anissa Garcia is now the assistant coach at UMHB. It was wonderful seeing her there after she finished a very solid senior season.
Game two was close as we lost 25-23, but we just made too many errors. We had 8 hitting errors, a missed serve, a ball handling error, and two defensive errors. All told, that's 10 points plus a couple of extra rallies we could have won. These are things we are looking clean up for next season,
In game 3 we did an excellent job of siding out. Our passing was better, which allowed us to get 17 kills in a 25 point set. Unfortunately we did miss 5 serves which allowed UMHB to hang around. We eventually won 25-20 but I would have liked to see us a little more mentally focused on the whole game and not just the side out aspect.
After a short lunch break, we finished up with Wylie. Wylie is an NAIA school that finished second in their conference, losing only to the eventual national champions from UT-Brownsville. This was a tough way to end the day for us as Wylie was the wrong team to play at this point. They forced us into playing their slow it down, take time between points, kick the volleyball a few times before kicking it under the net kind of game. It was tough for us to start our own energy after playing 6 sets in less than 3 hours and we did not do a very good job as a staff getting the team ready for this match. As a result we lost in three straight. We did not pass well, our serving game continued to abandon us. This long day is one of the reasons we do not play 3 matches in one day during the season like some other junior colleges do.
So at this point our spring season is over. First off we must acknowledge the sophomores who stayed with the program for two full season: Lauren Myers, Haley Goldwater, Brittany Berry, and Taelor Higgins. They have added much to the program and they will be successful wherever they may be in the fall.
Secondly, we made it through the spring very healthy. We have a few minor bumps and bruises, but no major injuries to speak of. That is a credit to the girl's work ethic and to our strength coach Aaron Baker. After the first round of fitness testing yesterday, all of the freshmen have added to their jumping ability and explosiveness. Hopefully we can continue this over the summer and into next season.
I will see you tomorrow for part 3 of our "Week of posts".
Monday, April 16, 2012
Week of posts
Our spring season wrapped up this past weekend down at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Instead of giving you, our loyal readers, a recap of that event, I'm going to spread things out over all five days this week. If I've learned anything from TV, it's that we'll give you some good stuff, but hold out the really good scenes until later episodes so you keep watching (which I'm thinking was the entire premise of "Lost")
Anyways, last week was the beginning of the spring signing period for NCAA athletics. We had one of our players sign:
Haley Goldwater (wearing the green shirt) signed her letter of intent to attend the University of Arkansas-Monticello. Monticello is a Division II school which competes in the Great American Conference.
After being a two year starter for us, I believe Haley has a great chance to start there next season. She has been improving on the court this spring, as well as academically and will graduate this summer. We will miss her greatly but I have no doubt she will love her new school and her new coach, Casey Shingler. She is surrounded by her teammates from the 2011 season in the picture above.
Check back in here every day this week for updates on our last spring tournament, new signees, and various other rantings and ravings, all updated by lunch every day!
Anyways, last week was the beginning of the spring signing period for NCAA athletics. We had one of our players sign:
After being a two year starter for us, I believe Haley has a great chance to start there next season. She has been improving on the court this spring, as well as academically and will graduate this summer. We will miss her greatly but I have no doubt she will love her new school and her new coach, Casey Shingler. She is surrounded by her teammates from the 2011 season in the picture above.
Check back in here every day this week for updates on our last spring tournament, new signees, and various other rantings and ravings, all updated by lunch every day!
Monday, April 2, 2012
New Outside Hitter for 2012
This past weekend I was down in Houston for the JVA World Challenge. It was a good chance to see teams from the Midwest such as Sports Performance and KIVA play the top teams from Texas (I also did a little bit of recruiting).
Before the tournament started we had the privilege of signing Anita Permenter, an outside hitter from Clear Brook High School.
Pictured: Back row (L-R): Trainer Cathy Supak, Head Coach Meredith Thompson, Assistant Coach Jessica Curtis Front Row (L-R): Bruce Permenter, Anita Permenter, Coach Tiffin
I like going to these signings because it gives you an idea of what the school thinks about the player. I had staff members tell me how much they enjoy having Anita at their school, and I even had a parent of one of her teammates tell me what a great kid she is and how much her daughter enjoys playing with Anita. Comments like those mean a lot to me.
Anita is a 6 rotation outside hitter, which means she is someone who we do not have to sub off the court. Right now she is playing club ball for Texas Tornados 18 Mizuno, which is their top team. Her club coach, Lilly Denoon, played professionally for many years so Anita has a great coach teaching her the skills she will need to be successful here in the fall.
In short, we love Anita and her family and could not be more excited to have her choose Hill College. I believe she can challenge for a starting position next season, making our team more dynamic and well rounded. More importantly, she brings a great verbal quality to the team; one that will push her teammates to get better in practice and during games.
- Coach Tiffin
Before the tournament started we had the privilege of signing Anita Permenter, an outside hitter from Clear Brook High School.
I like going to these signings because it gives you an idea of what the school thinks about the player. I had staff members tell me how much they enjoy having Anita at their school, and I even had a parent of one of her teammates tell me what a great kid she is and how much her daughter enjoys playing with Anita. Comments like those mean a lot to me.
Anita is a 6 rotation outside hitter, which means she is someone who we do not have to sub off the court. Right now she is playing club ball for Texas Tornados 18 Mizuno, which is their top team. Her club coach, Lilly Denoon, played professionally for many years so Anita has a great coach teaching her the skills she will need to be successful here in the fall.
In short, we love Anita and her family and could not be more excited to have her choose Hill College. I believe she can challenge for a starting position next season, making our team more dynamic and well rounded. More importantly, she brings a great verbal quality to the team; one that will push her teammates to get better in practice and during games.
- Coach Tiffin
2nd spring tournament!
Hey Lady Rebel fans!! This is Ashlie Christenson, the Assistant Coach. Saturday was our second spring tournament that took place at Brookhaven. Talk about progress! Our girls have really stepped up to the challege to become more competitive, vocal, and leaders on the court.
We played Richland, NCTC, Trinity Valley, and Tyler. We played best of 3 sets against Richland, winning all 3 sets, and against NCTC lost the deciding third game. In the afternoon pool we played 2 sets against Trinity Valley and Tyler. We started out slow in the first set of Trinity Valley, but they picked up the things they needed to change to pull out a win in the second set! In the Tyler match we played a lot more consistent, even though we were getting tired from playing all day. Even though we lost both sets with Tyler we have really grown as a team.
The girls made plays this weekend I have never seen out of them before. They have learned to work through tough lulls in a set and to never let a ball fall to the ground without making sure they did everything they could to get a touch. I saw girls stepping up in times that needed it most, as well as letting loose to have more fun in the game they love.
This is not a team to miss for next years season!
We played Richland, NCTC, Trinity Valley, and Tyler. We played best of 3 sets against Richland, winning all 3 sets, and against NCTC lost the deciding third game. In the afternoon pool we played 2 sets against Trinity Valley and Tyler. We started out slow in the first set of Trinity Valley, but they picked up the things they needed to change to pull out a win in the second set! In the Tyler match we played a lot more consistent, even though we were getting tired from playing all day. Even though we lost both sets with Tyler we have really grown as a team.
The girls made plays this weekend I have never seen out of them before. They have learned to work through tough lulls in a set and to never let a ball fall to the ground without making sure they did everything they could to get a touch. I saw girls stepping up in times that needed it most, as well as letting loose to have more fun in the game they love.
This is not a team to miss for next years season!
Friday, March 23, 2012
New recruit on board
So we're cruising along here in Hillsboro. The weather has been pretty good, allowing us to play sand volleyball as well as get our indoor game going. It does get pretty windy sometimes, but it just makes us better players. Hopefully we can keep improving with sand and even enter some tournaments this summer.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of heading down to Austin to sign a player for our team next season. Alex Wells, a middle blocker from Austin Bowie High School and Austin Performance Club Volleyball, is going to be a great addition for us next season.
Alex is sitting with her parents Adolphus and Adrian. Her high school coach Jason Landers is on the left and I'm the little kid standing next to him.
We are very, very excited to have Alex on our team. She jumps very well and her athleticism will only make us a quicker, faster, and stronger team. More importantly, she comes from a great family and will be a fine example of what we think a Hill College athlete should be. I know other schools had offered her scholarships so we are very pleased she chose us.
We have a tournament next weekend at Brookhaven on Saturday, March 31. It should be a good barometer of where we are at. It will allow all of our girls to get that court time and keep working on our skills.
Look for more good news next week and an update of our spring tournament soon after!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of heading down to Austin to sign a player for our team next season. Alex Wells, a middle blocker from Austin Bowie High School and Austin Performance Club Volleyball, is going to be a great addition for us next season.
We are very, very excited to have Alex on our team. She jumps very well and her athleticism will only make us a quicker, faster, and stronger team. More importantly, she comes from a great family and will be a fine example of what we think a Hill College athlete should be. I know other schools had offered her scholarships so we are very pleased she chose us.
We have a tournament next weekend at Brookhaven on Saturday, March 31. It should be a good barometer of where we are at. It will allow all of our girls to get that court time and keep working on our skills.
Look for more good news next week and an update of our spring tournament soon after!
Monday, February 27, 2012
First spring tournament
This past Friday Hill College travelled to Eastfield to participate in the first of our spring competition dates. This was a chance to get on the court and play some new faces after over a month of sometimes monotonous weight room sessions and individual workouts.
We played four matches with mixed results. In the morning we played Eastfield and after a sloppy start, came back and won in 3 sets. Our next match was against Tyler and while we did have our moments, we lost in 3.
In the afternoon we played fellow conference member NCTC. I have a great respect for their coach, who always has her teams ready to compete and have beaten us in the play-offs the last two seasons. This game was no exception. We put together a few solid rallies and won set two, but it was not enough and we lost in 3. To finish off our day, we swept Brookhaven.
Spring volleyball isn't about getting wins and trying to "win" tournaments. It's a chance to see what your team is made of in a different setting. Matches are different; with less referees, less prep time, very liitle if any scouting reports, and obviously a smaller roster. It gives coaches a chance to see who your leaders are going to be next season. Any players that competes the same in spring as they do in the fall is a player you want on your team (as long as they compete hard!). Winning becomes a by product of this work ethic. If we don't have it in the spring we won't have it in the fall and our results will show it.
What we're finding is who has the mental fortitude to begin winning a starting position now instead of waiting for the fall to "turn on the switch." I believe you can always tell what a person is really like by looking at them when there are no consequences. If they still have a strong moral code and do what is best even when no one is looking, that is a person you want on your team. If not, your team might have some issues.
That's all for today. Our next spring tournament is March 31 at Brookhaven. Hopefully in the next few weeks we will have news on incoming recruits and any other positive off season developments. Until next time...
We played four matches with mixed results. In the morning we played Eastfield and after a sloppy start, came back and won in 3 sets. Our next match was against Tyler and while we did have our moments, we lost in 3.
In the afternoon we played fellow conference member NCTC. I have a great respect for their coach, who always has her teams ready to compete and have beaten us in the play-offs the last two seasons. This game was no exception. We put together a few solid rallies and won set two, but it was not enough and we lost in 3. To finish off our day, we swept Brookhaven.
Spring volleyball isn't about getting wins and trying to "win" tournaments. It's a chance to see what your team is made of in a different setting. Matches are different; with less referees, less prep time, very liitle if any scouting reports, and obviously a smaller roster. It gives coaches a chance to see who your leaders are going to be next season. Any players that competes the same in spring as they do in the fall is a player you want on your team (as long as they compete hard!). Winning becomes a by product of this work ethic. If we don't have it in the spring we won't have it in the fall and our results will show it.
What we're finding is who has the mental fortitude to begin winning a starting position now instead of waiting for the fall to "turn on the switch." I believe you can always tell what a person is really like by looking at them when there are no consequences. If they still have a strong moral code and do what is best even when no one is looking, that is a person you want on your team. If not, your team might have some issues.
That's all for today. Our next spring tournament is March 31 at Brookhaven. Hopefully in the next few weeks we will have news on incoming recruits and any other positive off season developments. Until next time...
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Spring update
Since we've reached the greatest month of all (February) I believe it's time for an update.
- Since the end of the season, we have a new assistant coach. Ashlie Christenson has joined the staff after serving as a volunteer during the fall. We are very excited to have her and she is doing a great job, especially with our hitters. Her bio can be found here: Ashlie Bio
- Since the weather has been fantastic, we've had a couple of practices on our sand court. The court is in great shape and we have used it for both playing and conditioning. Here are some pictures:
Finally, we have set our spring schedule. We play Friday, February 24 at Eastfield, Saturday, March 31 at Brookhaven, and Saturday, April 14 at Mary Hardin-Baylor. Hopefully we can take what we are working on and translate it into our matches.
Until next time.
- Since the end of the season, we have a new assistant coach. Ashlie Christenson has joined the staff after serving as a volunteer during the fall. We are very excited to have her and she is doing a great job, especially with our hitters. Her bio can be found here: Ashlie Bio
- Since the weather has been fantastic, we've had a couple of practices on our sand court. The court is in great shape and we have used it for both playing and conditioning. Here are some pictures:
Finally, we have set our spring schedule. We play Friday, February 24 at Eastfield, Saturday, March 31 at Brookhaven, and Saturday, April 14 at Mary Hardin-Baylor. Hopefully we can take what we are working on and translate it into our matches.
Until next time.
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