Hill College Volleyball

Final Fall Signing

2011-12-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

We have one last announcement this year before we move on to 2012. We are pleased to announce that Chelby Stanford will be playing for the Lady Rebels next season!

Chelby is a 3 year starting setter from Leon Jewett High School, where during those 3 years her teams had a record of 125-10, making two state tournament appearances. That would be impressive if those were the only accomplishments she has earned, but there are many more. Chelby has also made three TGCA All-State teams, two Texas Sportswriters teams, received a first team All Brazos Valley honor, a district MVP award and made two all-state tournament teams. This summer she will be playing in the Texas Coach’s All-Star game in the 1A-3A match. There are a lot more of these awards but that's all I have the space to list!

We first saw Chelby on film playing a local high school and were immediately drawn to how well she works with her team. Her teams have always been successful (that record is really good!) and seeing her in person only confirmed that. Speaking with her over the phone and in person has been a great experience as it has allowed our staff and team to see the wonderful individual that she is.

Chelby comes from a great family and will no doubt contribute to our program next season. We are tremendously excited that she chose to play for us and believe that she will help take our team to that next level!

This will be the final update for 2011! It has been a good year, but one that we as a group will work to improve on in the upcoming year. As we move into 2012 the Lady Rebels volleyball program wishes you a wonderful holiday break and hope that 2012 will be a better year than 2011!

Signings

2011-12-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

So besides the official release (which will come out soon), we're going to recap our early signing class right here. We've got three signed already, with one more soon to come. We'll announce her after she signs, but today is all about Jill, Tammy, and Kaitlin.

Jill Griffin is a 5'9" outside hitter from Centerville, TX. She was a 4 year starter for Centerville High School, during which time her teams went 52-0 in district play and made one state tournament appearance! This past season her team went 40-3 and lost in the regional semi-finals. She's also a two time TGCA all-state selection and has won numerous other all-district and tournament MVP awards.

I'm very excited to have her on the team. Jill will be competing for an outside hitter position and maybe even a defensive specialist position as well. She knows how to win and will help our team take the next step in our quest to win our conference.

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Tammy Leranth is a 6'1" RSH from Lewisville, TX. At 5A Lewisville High School, playing in what I think was the toughest district in the state (8-5A) she led her team in kills and was named first team all-district. Additionally, she also led her team in kills as a junior and was named her teams best offensive player.

Tammy will be the first lefty we have had on campus in the past few seasons, so she will allow us to diversify our offense. Her height and athleticism will also allow us to compete with the top teams in the state in that area. I've enjoyed communicating with Tammy for the past few months and can't wait to see her play with this team.

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Finally, Kaitlin Poe is a 5'8" setter from Gatesville, TX. A three year starter, she was named best setter in her district this year as her team went 37-5 and lost in the regional semi-finals. Kaitlin is also beginning her second year as the starting setter for the Waco Juniors 18's club team, playing against the best competition the state of Texas has to offer, so she will be ready to compete in the fall.

Kaitlin will bring a calming influence on our team. She knows how to lead and her previous successes are an example of that. She will definitely compete for the starting setter job, and her athleticism will give us a lot of versatility as well.
Overall I am very happy with this group. All three of these know how to compete and win, and will not assume anything will be given to them. They will work and make not only themselves better, but the people around them.

We're winding down our semester here at Hill. Most of the team finished their finals exams today so there won't be much more news from here for the next few weeks. Look for one more commitment and then we'll take a break for the holiday season.

Season complete

2011-11-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

After defeating Ranger in an exciting match on Saturday, we had to play Temple Saturday evening. The winner of this match would advance to the conference championship game and would only have to win one more match. The loser would have to play again Sunday morning and then win 2 more times in order to go to nationals. Needless to say, this was an important match.

We made a couple of small adjustments to match up with Temple, just as they did from the last time we played them. They came out ready to play in game 1 and took that from us 25-18. Game 2 we made a little rally and tied it up near the end, but Temple made some good plays and won 25-23. Unfortunately for us they carried that momentum into game 3 and won 25-17. In my opinion, it was the best they had played against us all season and the scores proved that.

Sunday morning we played NCTC for the fourth time this year. Previously we had lost to them in 4 (but scored more points than they did), lost to them at their place 16-14 in the 5th, and beat them at our place in 4. Needless to say I thought it would be a competitive match. I don't know if there was a carryover effect from our loss the night before, but combine that with NCTC's excellent play and we lost in 3.

Our season ends on a disappointing note. I know that none of us pictured going out this way at the beginning of the season. Now we just have to look forward. Our off season program will make our players ready for next season and our sophomores ready to compete at whatever schools they transfer to. We will continue to recruit players that realize what it takes to be successful and combine them with our returning freshmen. There is a lot of work to do and we are all looking forward to it!

Good luck to Temple, Blinn, San Jacinto and Western Texas who will be representing the state of Texas at the national tournament!

Play-off update

2011-11-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

We just got back to the hotel after our semi-fnial match against Ranger. Let me tell you this: this was no easy match...

We started off very slow. We did not do the little things correctly and as a result we lost the first 2 games by identical scores of 25-18. We did have a few moments, but Ranger outplayed us.

Our lack of focus continued into game 3 and we started off down 5-1. After a time-out it was like the light bulb finally went off. We started digging more balls but more importantly we converted quickly and effectively. Instead of making weak plays, we made confident play. As a result we won game three 25-21 and game four 25-22.

Game 5 was good for us at the beginning and we were up 8-4 at the side change. Then Ranger came roaring back and took advantage of some less than stellar plays and tied it up at 10. After that, it was back and forth. 14-14. 15-15. 16-16. We had multiple swings for match point but couldn't convert. i won't lie to you I was getting very nervous. This was a intense game! Finally, we got up 17-16 and Taelor Higgins converted a quick middle set to the floor for a huge comeback win!!! And then we celebrated by going to Which Wich, the "Superior" Sandwich place.

So we play Temple tonight at 7 pm for the fourth time this season. They looked very good earlier today in beating NCTC in four games so we will have to play at a high level to beat them. I'll keep you updated, just check here or on our Facebook page. Go Lady Rebels!!

Play-offs and updates

2011-11-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

So after a long season of 36 matches, play-offs are finally here. We finished in a 3 way tie for second place and after tie breakers we came out 3rd. This means we will play 2nd seeded Ranger in the first round of our play-offs Saturday at 12 pm at Brookhaven College. Since our conference is double elimination (think college baseball regional) we will then play a second match that night: at 7 if we win, at 5 if we lose. We will keep you updated on our Facebook athletics page with how we are doing.

AWARDS
On Monday conference awards were handed out. Six players were recognized:
- Sybil Westrup: Conference Libero of the year and 1st team All Conference.
- Haley Goldwater: 1st team All Conference
- Phyllicia Cross: 1st team All Conference
- Cayleigh Drake: 2nd team All Conference
- Taelor Higgins: 2nd team All Conference
- Camryn Kazmierski: 2nd team All Conference

I am very proud that these young women were recognized by their opposing coaches, especially Sybil being named libero of the year! This is the second year in a row that we have recieved this award, after Lauren Ray last year.

Finally, our sand court is finished!! It looks fantastic, with plenty of space on all sides. We can't wait to get out there and have some fun! here are some pictures:

Soph night and pictures galore!

2011-10-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Last night was sophomore night here at Hill College. I am happy to report that we won in 4 against a very good NCTC team! This put us at 5-4 in conference (4 wins in a row) and solely in second place. Right now we know that we are in the regional tournament; we just don't know our seed. If we win tomorrow at Ranger we will finish in 2nd place by ourselves. If we lose we will be in a 3 way tie for second place. Here's hoping for a win tomorrow!

Now, some pictures from last night:

Our four freshmen: (from left) Camryn Kazmierski, Cayleigh Drake, Chelsea Knape and Phyllicia Cross

From left: Brittany Berry, Camryn Kazmierski, and Ayve Alvarado

The entire team and Sophomores parents before the game.

Sophomore setter Haley Goldwater and her mom Melissa at our celebration after the match.

Brittany Berry and family...

Sophomore DS Lauren Myers and her parents

From left: Taelor Higgins, Taylor Jones, Ayve Alvarado, Mariah Everitt, and assistant coach Ashlie Christenson.

From left: Sybil Westrup, Phyllicia Cross, Cayleigh Drake, Camryn Kazmierski, and Chelsea Knape.

Finally, more great news, our sand volleyball court is getting closer to completion! They have laid the drainage pipes and are about to put in the standards. Here's a picture I took this morning:

The court is going to be fantastic. We can't to use it!
Don't forget we have one last home game this Saturday at 1 pm versus Navarro. Come out and support your Lady Rebels in their last home match this year!

Great win last night!

2011-10-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

Last night we went down to Temple and won an amazing match in 5! We accomplished a lot of firsts last night:

- Our first 5 set win of the year
- Our first win at Temple (at least since I've been here)
- Our first back to back conference wins of the year

As of this point, we are tied for third in our conference, and we play second place Cisco tomorrow at their place. We've split with them so far this season so I'm hoping we can pull out a win tomorrow and be tied for 2nd!

Also, today they started to pour the concrete for our sand court! A picture is below. Hope to see you either at Cisco tomorrow or at home on Tuesday for sophomore night against NCTC.

Friday update

2011-10-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

This past week was a little up and down. We lost to Ranger in 4 on Tuesday, but gained a little revenge on Vernon and won in 4 (25-14, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18). That match started the second round of conference play. With 4 games left, we are 1 game out of a play-off spot, so we know what we have to do.

Tomorrow we go on the road to play at Panola, who is a top 20 ranked team. In my opinion, they were the best team we played last year so they should be very good again this season. If we play like we did last night, it will be a competitive match.

Sand court update: The rains have slowed construction down a little bit, but here's a picture taken this morning on an absolutely beautiful fall day here in Central Texas.

Weekend update

2011-10-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we made the long drive down to San Jacinto for a tri-match. As a bonus, it was their Dig Pink day so we got to wear our pink shirts again, all for a worthy cause.

Our first match was against Coastal Bend and we did pretty well, winning in 4. Then we played #5 San Jacinto and lost in 3. We played solidly in game 3, even having a set point, but couldn't close it out and lost 26-24. We'll continue our conference play tomorrow against Ranger, who is the only team we have yet to play in our regular season so far.

Finally, I pledged to you to give you updates on the sand court construction. Here's another picture. Not a lot has changed but it will start looking pretty good very soon. Until next time.

A long overdue novel of a post

2011-10-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

So I realize that I have not updated this blog in quite some time. There are many reasons for this; none of them valid. So over the next few paragraphs (that will probably turn into pages) I will tell you as much as I can.

Our season has been so up and down. Currently we are 9-16, which is not a good record, but we have been knocking on the door. Unfortunately it keeps getting slammed in our face as we are 0-6 in 5 set matches. That's where our biggest issue is. Last night we went to North Central Texas, a very good team and a place we have never won at, and were up 12-8 in the 5th before losing 16-14. Now maybe some of that had to do with one of our players getting a concussion from diving into a wall (that's right, our players dive into walls to keep a ball alive), but it doesn't give us an excuse. So all we can do is get into the gym and get better.

As you just read, one player received a concussion last night. This past Monday one of our starting middles sprained her ankle so she's missed 2 matches so far. Two weeks before that our other starting middle severely sprained her ankle and missed about two weeks. And the week before that Mariah Everitt, a returning outside hitter, tore her ACL and is out for the season. We have 10 healthy players right now, and are only 2 games back in the conference standings. Hope is not lost for us yet.

We've also been doing some ancillary activities besides volleyball. This past Tuesday we had our DIG PINK night and it was a success (other than a loss in, you guessed it, 5 games). We raised over $500 for breast cancer research, and the final number will be posted early next week. Here's a picture of the girls before our match:

We have had some good highlights this season. Haley Goldwater has continued her solid freshman campaign and is currently in the top 25 in the nation in assists, averaging just under 9 a game. Phyllicia Cross, a freshman OH is in the top 50 nationally in kills per game, and sophomore libero Sybil Westrup is right around 50th in digs per game.

We've done a good job of getting better as the season progresses. We've played a brutal schedule, including 5 matches against teams currently in the top 5 national rankings. While we did lose everyone of those matches, it has shown us what we need to do, which includes more aggressive serving and better defense. We are taking a lot of baby steps, and I like to think of us this year as the Tampa Bay Rays instead of the Red Sox, for those of you that follow baseball.

Finally, we have some amazing news to share. I've been talking about how we are building a sand volleyball court for almost a year now. I've talked about it so much that my friends think I'm joking with them, and they compare it to how long people have been mentioning an Arrested Development movie. (On a side note, that show is pure genius. We can find a way to quote it on most road trips). Well, construction has finally begun!! Here is a picture to prove it:

What you see in the background are clouds, and we still desperately need rain in Central Texas. The court should be ready in early November.

Well that is all I have for today. I promise, nay, pledge to post more photos of the sand court as it is being built. Until next time...

Scrimmage results

2011-08-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we traveled to Brookhaven for 4 exhibition matches to see where we are as a team. All 13 players got to see the court and take what they have been working on in practice into game situations.

In the morning pool, we played Paris and Eastfield. Both matches went 3 and had close games in each. I know that we were sloppy throughout, (we won one game 25-23 and had 18 hitting/serving errors. ugh) but there were some positive signs.

In the afternoon we played Richland and Tyler. Once again, we played 3 sets in both matches and we were up and down. All in all, we finished the day 2-2 and wished we could have done better.

Starting next week, we'll have more in depth results from our matches. Since it was an exhibition last weekend, it's unfair to us and to other coaches to provide details as I'm assuming some coaches were trying some things. Don't get me wrong, it was intense. We were trying to win and losing 2 matches left a bitter taste in our mouths and we will take that into account when we play those teams in the future.

Now we can really focus on fine tuning the little things before Friday. I hope you will keep following us here and on our facebook page "Hill College Athletics".

Fall update

2011-08-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been awhile since our last post. Fall practice is in full swing!! We completed two-a-days this afternoon and are ready for our first scrimmage on Saturday. Let's get you up to date:

- Madeleine Aaron was hired as our assistant coach. She has played for Coach Tiffin for a few years and knows the systems and technique that make Hill College players successful. Here's a link to her bio: Coach Aaron Bio

- The girls have been working hard these past few weeks, trying to get better and get into that starting line-up. Here's some action shots from this past week:

This is Outside Hitter Mariah Everitt.

Defensive players Chelsea Knape (left) and Lauren Myers.

From left: Outside Hitter Phyllicia Cross, Setter Haley Goldwater, and Middle Blocker Cayleigh Drake.

- We have our first scrimmage this Saturday at Brookhaven College. We'll play 4 teams throughout the day and it will give us a great chance to see different line-ups and it will give the girls a chance to play against unfamiliar opponents.

- We hope you can come out and see us play! Our schedule is under the Hill College link on the right hand side of the page. Also, dont forget to find us on Facebook!

Final Spring post

2011-05-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

Technically it is summer already, but since graduation was last night I'm calling it spring for one more day.

First off, last week we went down to Houston and had a signing ceremony for Camryn Kazmierski, an OH/OPP from Pearland Dawson. Great ceremony with the entire volleyball program attending. Kind words were spoken and cake was shared. I normally would have a picture but alas, my camera went unused and I haven't found a good picture yet.

We also signed Sybil Westrup, a DS from Midway High School just outside of Waco. She is a transfer whom I have known for about 5 years and she will provide energy and experience for us.

Finally, all the grades are in and I am proud to announce that our team GPA for the entire 2010-2011 academic year was a 3.14! This is great news and the team worked very hard to earn it.

So thats it for the 2010 season. Now we can focus on 2011. We have a summer camp in June (details on our website; see the link on the right hand side of the page). I'm very excited with what we have planned:

- 37 matches, including tournaments in Brookhaven, Blinn, and Galveston
- Matches against the premier junior college teams in Texas, including Blinn, San Jacinto, Panola, and Temple
- 11 home matches, including theme nights such as RED OUT, DIG PINK, and sophomore night

In short, it's going to be a great fall season! Hope to see you there!

Signing!!

2011-04-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little late in putting this up, but we had the pleasure of attending the latest signing ceremony at Copperas Cove High School earlier this month, where Phyllicia Cross signed to be a Lady Rebel! Phyllicia is an outside hitter who has a lot of experience playing in both high level 5A High School volleyball and in top level club ball with Waco Juniors.

Her coach, Coach Lowery, had many good things to say about Phyllicia, and then proceeded to list all of her accomplishments, which included numerous school records and post season awards. We could not be happier to have Phyllicia attend Hill College next season!

More signing news later this week...

Athletic banquet

2011-04-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our athletic banquet, honoring all athletic teams at Hill for on and off court excellence. We had 7 players make the Athletic Director's Honor Roll, with all of them having GPA's above 3.4! Very, very excited about that. Here is a picture of us after the banquet:

More news to come tomorrow.

Last Spring Tournament

2011-04-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we went to Tyler and competed in a tri-match with Lon Morris and the host team, Tyler JC. Once again, we just wanted to see where we were at with our individual skills and what we needed to work on heading into the summer.
Our first match was against Tyler and they swept us in 3. We started out very low and got beat in game 1, but had many chances to win game 2 and couldn't put together the necessary run to get us over the top. Tyler played very well and looked like a well coached team. They will be much improved next season in their conference.
Our last match was against Lon Morris and we won that in 3 straight games. Our middles were very effective and we also won the first contact portion of the match. When you can do that, good things happen.
It was the last time I will ever coach our sophomores and it was good to see them going out on a win. We will miss them, and we know that they will be successful. They also made our team much better this spring and I know our freshmen this year will be successful because of it.
So thats it for this season. We have our athletic banquet next week, and then finals begin. The season has flown by. I'll have updates on our signees and look to our main athletics page for information about our summer camp.

Sophomores Sign!!

2011-04-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a ceremony in our welcome center for both of our sophomores who are moving on to 4 year institutions.

Sapphire (on the left) was joined by her parents Robert and Jessica, and Lauren's mom Dianne came for the festivities. Both our president and vice president were able to attend and say some nice words. Our team was also there and were able to see what happens when you put in the work and effort.
Sapphire signed with Long Island University, which is a Division 1 school in the Northeast Conference. Lauren signed with Henderson State, a Division 2 school in the Gulf South Conference. More importantly, they will both be on full rides.
I will be sad to see them leave, as I've known both of them since they were 15 years old. I know we will be following them next year as they move on and I have no doubt that they will be successful wherever their journey takes them.

Finally, I'll have news on our next spring tourney, a new signee, and other bits of info next week!

Second Spring Scrimmage

2011-04-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went up to Brookhaven College for a spring tourney. Like our last one, this was a chance to get some floor time for everyone and see where we have progressed.

We played 5 matches in a row. Literally. We probably had about 5 minutes between each one. As a result, I was very happy we had 10 players. This also showed that our off season conditioning program has been working extremely well because I didn't see any signs of fatigue (other than multiple "I'm hungry" lines from the girls).

Our first match was against Trinity Valley. We came out very well and continued our solid blocking. If we can continue to block effectively we can win a lot of games. We won game one, but for some reason did not block very well in game 2 and Trinity Valley won that.

Each match was just 2 games so we moved on to the next one against Brookhaven. They are always a tough team to play and we did not match their level and they swept us. After this match the team had a little heart to heart and from then on things got better.

We beat conference foe Ranger College in straight sets, and split with another conference team NCTC. As a side note, NCTC will be very good next year. They came one win away this year from going to nationals and they will be better next season. They have a solid coach and they always show up to play. Our conference keeps getting better.

Our last match was against Eastfield, who we have a home and home with next season. They are much improved from last season, and our game was very competitive. We won game 1, but lost game 2.

So we got to play volleyball for about 5 hours straight. We showed areas that we have improved in, and other areas that still need work. Our conditioning is in fine shape, and we will continue to improve that. Our last spring tournament is April 16 at Tyler and we will see if we can win some more games there and go to summer on a high note. Until next time...

First spring scrimmage

2011-03-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our first spring scrimmage. It had been over 4 months since our last competitive match so the girls were ready to play and beat up on somebody other than themselves.

Our matches last night were against the Baylor Club Volleyball teams. Traditionally, Baylor has one of the strongest club programs in the country, with both teams combining for five Final Four appearances nationally and twelve overall top 10 finishes. These matches would give us an idea of where we are and the aspects of our game we need to improve on.

Our first match was against the Baylor Gold team. Our team came out very, very motivated and won game one 25-14. I was able to mix and match line-ups in the next two games and we won both of those 25-17 and 25-20. Both of our setters, Haley Goldwater and Michaela McNeely were able to get in a lot of reps and we even tried a 6-2 with Michaela swinging, and I thought that went well. This versatility gives us options for next season.

The next game was against the Baylor Green team. To give you an idea of what level of play they are, their record over the past 3 years is 93-12. They have multiple athletes on their team that had Division 1 offers to play volleyball but chose for one reason or another to come to Baylor.

We started out a little slowly and I called my second time out down 17-11. It was a good wake-up call for us because every time we did not attack the ball hard over the net, it came back faster at us. It was like we were throwing off speed pitches and they were hitting home runs. We started to play much more aggressive and made a nice run to tie it at 24, but we lost 28-26.

We continued our level of play into game 2 and jumped on them early. We actually were up 24-19, but Baylor made a nice run and we escaped with a 25-23 win. To put this in perspective, this was the first set that the Baylor team had lost since December. Game 3 was also very close. We lost 16-14, making a few too many serving errors and hitting mistakes.

Overall, the improvement that our team has made since the end of last season has been tremendous. Our athleticism has improved a lot and as a result our blocking last night was great. I believe we had about 15 blocks against the Gold team, and the balls that we didn't block we slowed down for our defense to pick up.

Now that we've had some competition, we can keep improving for our next spring tournament, which is Friday April 1 at Brookhaven. This will give us a chance to see how much we've improved compared to other junior colleges. We have 8 returning sophomores that are playing now so we are setting a great foundation for next season!

Until next time...

It's Friday

2011-03-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Since it's Friday, here's another update about our program. In the last week we signed our last two incoming freshmen to join our team next season. We are very excited and we'll have some pictures up when they have their signing ceremony later this spring. In the meantime, since they have signed, here's a quick breakdown of who they are:

- Camryn Kazmierski is a 6' OH/OPP hitter from Pearland who plays club ball for AVA. Camryn is a very solid hitter who can play both pin positions but is currently playing right side for her club team. She has the potential to come in and give us a big arm and big block at any front row position. More importantly, she is a fantastic individual and will help our team immensely not just with volleyball but also in our off the court programs.

- Phyllicia Cross is a 5'11" OH from Copperas Cove High School and she plays club ball for Waco Juniors with another commit of ours, Cayleigh Drake. Phyllicia is a dynamic athlete who could play all 6 rotations for us next season. She is very similar to Sapphire; a multi dimensional athlete who can hit, receive serve, and play middle back defense.

I could not be more excited about our 4 incoming freshmen. They are all playing high level club volleyball which means they will be ready to compete at the level we need to be at to be successful in August. Combine these 4 with the 10 rising sophomores we have on campus now and I can not wait for next season to start.

In the meantime, we start our spring season this coming Thursday with 2 matches against the Baylor Club Volleyball Team. This is a great way to get back into competition as the Baylor club is already in season and gearing up for their conference championships. I'll let you know how it goes!

Update

2011-03-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry about missing the last 2 days. My internet was out, amongst other things. So update:

As we know, Lauren Ray our libero signed with Henderson State last semester. We only had one other sophomore on the team, Sapphire Reid. Sapphire had multiple offers to choose from, and she took full advantage of the process. She visited schools in Indiana, North Carolina, and two in New York. In the end she has decided to commit to Long Island University!!!

I am very excited for Sapphire and her family. I've known her since she was 16 and while I will be sad to see her go, I know she will be successful in New York.

Tomorrow I will give you the updates on our recruits, I promise.

News and Notes

2011-03-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

So our team is on spring break this week, which gives me a chance to catch up on everything that has been going on lately. I'll have an update each day this week as we get into the main portion off-season once the team gets back next week.

Fist off, our assistant Kelsey Loop has taken the head coaching position at Northern Oklahoma College! We are very excited for Kelsey as she begins her head coaching career. She did a fantastic job this past season and we will miss her. It's been interesting to go from recruiting with her at tournaments to seeing her in Houston this past weekend in different colors recruiting for another school.

Here is the link to Kelsey's announcement: Announcement

Changing gears a little bit, the first part of our off season has been going great. We've been spending more time in the weight room and doing plyos in the gym, as well as more group and individual work. I've seen a lot of improvement in our team and our freshmen are going to take a big leap next season. The work in the weight room has definitely paid off, as all of our team is now more explosive (some adding over 100 pounds to their squat max) and quicker. One of our players has added 6 inches to her approach jump since the start of last season! This is phenomenal and will allow us to be a very offensive team next season.

I'll have more updates the rest of the week on recruiting for 2011 (hint: we're done and they are signed), our spring schedule, and what else is happening with our program.

Signing!!

2011-02-23T05:50:00.000-08:00

It is my pleasure to announce that Hill has officially signed Chelsea Knape, an outside hitter from Texas City High School. Chelsea is the second class of 2011 player we have signed for this upcoming season.

I watched Chelsea play a few times with her club team, AVA, this past year and was very impressed with how she is as a person. She's the main outside attacker on her team and with that comes a lot of pressure. She has shown that she is able to shoulder that responsibility and this will no doubt help her in college.

Our signing yesterday was in the high school athletic offices, and her Athletic Director, Coach, parents, as well as her club volleyball coach were there. The coaches had nothing but good things to say about her and I am very excited to have her join our team.

Look or more good news later this week!

Great news!

2011-02-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

So February is rolling along. The girls are working hard in the weight room and we can see the results already. We are a little rusty when it comes to volleyball skills right now, but we'll get to that later this month and into March.

Recruiting is a blast as usual. We don't need to find a lot of new players this year like we did last year which makes things easier. I believe we can get some impact players that can help us win next year. I'll let you know when we sign them.

Finally, great news for our 2011 signee Cayleigh Drake. She was named 2010 Prepvolleyball High School Academic All-American!! This is a great honor since it is a nationwide category. Cayleigh was one of 8 Texas players named. The http://www.prepvolleyball.com/ website is a pay site so it's not accessible to all (though you can subscribe if you wish) but I'm going to paste Cayleigh's write up below. Hope you are enjoying February!

Cayleigh Drake, 5-11 MB, Rogers (Texas) – Named District MVP and Third Team All Centex, Drake slammed 838 kills and added 183 blocks in 2010 for a Rogers team that reached the 2A Region 4A final. In the classroom, Drake has a 3.97 GPA, combining both high school and college credit classes. In addition to being a leader in the classroom, she is also the treasurer of her senior class and an officer in the National Honor Society. Most importantly, she finds time to mentor elementary and middle school students in between classes, basketball, and club volleyball practice.

Wow it's been a long time

2011-01-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

So it's been over 2 months since I've posted. A lot of things have happened. Let me get you updated:
- Our team GPA for the fall semester was a 3.19! This is great as it shows that we have well rounded individuals on our team, not just athletes. I am very proud of our team and hopefully this will lead us to being Academic All-Americans again as a team.
- We had a girl transfer in over the break. Michaela McNeely will be adding to our team as both a setter and a rightside hitter. We are super excited to have her here.
- Locker room upgrades continue to happen. We have new directors chairs for each player, as well as temporary lockers until we can find the ones we really want. Also this weekend the installers are coming to place our motivational slogans on our locker room walls.

In BIG NEWS, Hill College has decided to buld a sand volleyball court! They have given me freedom to work with student activities to design this court exactly how it should be: top of the line equipment and sand. Hopefully we can have this built by the end of the semester!

It's been a good semester so far. Kelsey and I have been on the road recruiting, watching a lot of players. We are only looking for 2 or 3 more, but we are trying to find impact people as well as players. Recruiting is long and sometimes arduous, but it is fun. Volleyball is a great sport and being able to see great athletes play it is always exciting.

Last weekend we were in Austin for the Tour of Texas Qualifier. I'm also helping coach an 18's team, and in between helping that team qualify for the top bracket at the next stop, I was able to look at some unsigned players. Plus Kelsey and I got to eat at P.F. Changs which is always great. Love their lettuce wraps.

Until next time.

More updates

2010-11-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to the Region V website, with articles about both of our latest signees. Region V Website

First signing!

2010-11-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

So yesterday we went down to Rogers, Texas and signed our first player for the 2011-2012 season! Cayleigh Drake, who might very well have tied for the lead in kills this year in the state of Texas with 838, is coming to play for us! A middle blocker who could also potentially play outside. I cannot tell you how excited I am. When I was hired for this job, I called my parents to let them know, then I hung up the phone and called Cayleigh to offer her. That is how highly I think of her.

Yes, I realize I can't smile. Here's a picture of her signing:

Thats her coach, Coach Rogers (who also played at Hill College) on the right. So Cayleigh will come in next year and I expect her to contribute right away. She will wear #3. Here's a link to the newspaper article about her signing: Cayleigh's signing

Speaking of #3's, our current #3 Lauren Ray signed her National Letter of Intent earlier this week to play at Henderson State! I am very proud of her. She has worked incredibly hard in the past 5 years I've known her and now she gets to go to a solid volleyball program and conference, play at a high level, and graduate with a great degree and be pretty much debt free. She has earned everything she gets.

Finally, we are in the middle of off season right now. A lot of conditioning and plyometric work, but our hitters are also learning a new type of swing that will make them very effective. You will see a different team on the court in the spring. Until next time.

Great news

2010-11-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm really falling behind on these posts. WE started off season yesterday with a lot of plyos and the girls responded really well. NOw we have another workout today and we'll see how they respond when they are sore.

Come back tomorrow for potentially great news about one of our sophomores signing to move on to a 4 year school...

Finally, here's a link to Hill College's facebook photo album of our team. Thanks to Eddie Middlebrook for taking these pictures. Facebook pictures

Tough end to season

2010-11-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, we ended our season yesterday with two tough loses. We started out against NCTC and once again, just like in the regular season, we lost to them in 5.

After a short break, we had to play Vernon in an elimination game. For some reason, our conference play-offs is double elimination. Vernon had lost to Temple earlier in the day. We started out great and won games 1 and 3, but still not playing up to our potential. Once again, we went to 5 and Vernon passed absolute nails and beat us for the first time since I've been at Hill College. A very tough way to end our season.

Some highlights of the weekend:
- Sapphire Reid had 41 kills combined in both matches
- Taylor Jones hit .400 against NCTC with 8 kills and no errors.
- Haley Goldwater averaged over 9 assistes per game

So it's the last time I get to coach Lauren Ray and Sapphire Reid, whom I first coached when they were 16. They will go to great 4 year schools (to be announced soon) and they will be an amazing asset to whichever coach gets them next. In the mean time, we have end of season interviews and I get to hit the recruiting trail in full force to watch some high school games. I'll try and post some pictures soon and maybe a highlight reel. Until next time.

So late

2010-11-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

So I thought I posted some stuff earleir this week. Apparantly I did not. let me get you updated:

- We ended the regular season 16-15 overall; 5-5 in conference. This out us in 3rd place and playing NCTC in round 1 (you can see one of our games against them in another post). We went to their place last week and lost in 5, so this could be a good match. Our conference tournament in Saturday and hopefully Sunday at Brookhaven College in Dallas. We play at 12 pm on Saturday: win we play again at 7, lose at 5.

- At our region meeting, our libero Lauren Ray was named conference defensive player of the year!! Sapphire Reid was named 1st team all-conference, and Mariah Everitt, Haley Goldwater, and Brittany Berry were named 2nd team.

- We had a great sophomore night last Thursday, honoring our manager Angel Parham and both Lauiren and Sapphire with plaques and stirring speeches, Sapphire and Lauren are also getting personalized gifts which they will receive at a later date.

Thats all I've got now. I'll try and post pictures later.

Odds and ends

2010-10-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

So it's Saturday morning and we're about to head to Dallas to play North Lake. Just a few random points:

- We beat Cisco in 4 Thursday night. We lost game 2, but won the other 3 games by at least 9 points. This was huge for us as it was basically a play-off game. Now we are pretty much assured of 3rd place and a date with NCTC in the first round of play-offs.

- Here's a link to a write up about our match on tuesday by our SID, Eddie Middlebrook Temple recap

- Both of our sophomores have visits lined up for next weekend: one to a D1 school; the other to a D2. I'm hoping they both go well. We've had great success sending our graduating sophomores to 4 year schools to play. In fact, here's a list: Rebels Moving On And it's also a little out of date. Another players from last year, Anissa Garcia, is starting at UMHB. So thats 3 players in the past 2 years moving on to Division 1 schools, and another one of our players last year had the opportunity to go to a D1, but she really liked another school so she went there. We always tell our players to go to a place thats comfortable which is why we set up as many visits as we can.

- We will honor both of our sophomore players, Lauren Ray and Sapphire Reid, as well as our manager Angerl Parham on Thursday night before and after our match against Ranger. If you can make it we'd love to see you there!

Last night versus Temple

2010-10-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

So last night we had our annual "Red Out" match, this time against Temple. Our main goal was to continue our improvement from this past weekend and see if we can gain some revenge as Temple beat us in 3 down at their place.

We had an amazing crowd. They were loud and gave us a great home court advantage. We definitely used that as we took game 1 by a score of 25-20.

Game 2 we started off very slowly and were down by as many as 8 points. Instead of giving up, this team showed great spirit and came back to tie it up at 22. Unfortunately we made 3 mistakes and Temple won 25-22.

Game 3 was more of the same: we dug ourselves into a hole and we tried to come back but it wasn't enough and we lost 25-19. However, in game 4 we did the opposite and jumped out to a huge lead and never looked back and won 25-19.

So for the third consecutive year, we go to 5 with Temple at home. Unfortunately, this time we couldn't pull it out and lost 15-13. We sided out to get to 13-14, and had a great chance to tie it up, but we didn't execute and they took advantage of it.

So now what? We are 3-4 in conference play. We have a massively huge match tomorrow night at home against Cisco. Let me tell you the scenarios:

If we win: Most likely we get the 3rd seed in play-offs.
If we lose: We will most likely be in a 3 way tie for 3rd with only two of those teams making the play-offs. Because of our head to head record, we will probably have to compete in a play in match the week of play-offs just to get there. So basically, we need to win tomorrow.

Come and support us if you can. 6 pm at home!

Video, updates, crazy plays

2010-10-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

So here we are, having started 2nd round of conference. This past weekend we drove up to Vernon and played a tri-match. Very important for us as we were in a 3 way tie for 3rd place with Vernon and Cisco. We came out playing great and beat Vernon in 4. Had a little hiccup in game 2 but other than that I was very happy. Brittany Berry led us with 12 kills and only 1 error on 24 swings.

We then played #9 ranked Frank Phillips. It was the first time I've ever played them and they are a solid team. They won game 1 in spite of one the weirdest plays I've ever seen: one of our outside hitters Sapphire went up to hit a 2 and got roofed, but the ball went straight back into her eye, then went back over the net and we got a kill. Here' the clip: Sapphire's kill

We turned around and won game 2. The girls played real well and I've decided to put it on line. here's the link for the entire game 2, which we won 25-20: Game 2 vs. Frank Phillips

They turned around and beat us in game 3, but game 4 was a very well played game. We went back and forth, but eventually FPC beat us 30-28. We had 2 game points but they sided out each time. I'm going to put this online as well very soon. To tell you the quality of offense for both teams, we hit .325% with 17 kills and only 4 errors. FPC played really well and I know we can take this solid play back into conference.

Other points:
- We have 2 very huge home matches this week against Temple and Cisco. Temple is Tuesday the 19th and it's Red Out night: wear red and support your Lady Rebels! We've got a lot of t-shirts to give away and a serving contest at halftime. We beat Temple at home last year and I'm hoping we can do it again.

- All of our stats and box scores are online at Stats You can get individual game box scores as well as team totals and player breakdowns. I'm hoping the rest of our conference catches up with this so you can compare us to other teams.

Won another conference match

2010-10-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

Last night we traveled to Ranger and got a great win in 3 games. It's always good to get a win on the road, and this puts us in a 3 way tie for 3rd after the first round of conference. We have a massively huge game on Saturday at Vernon. If we win that we have a great chance to qualify for play-offs. I know we will use these next few days to improve in the gym.

Notes:
- Haley Goldwater had 34 assists last night. Sapphire Reid had 16 kills and Lauren Ray had 27 digs.

Player of the week!

2010-10-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Congratualtions to Sapphire Reid, who was named the Region V player of the week!! Just go to the links on the right hand side of the blog and click on the region V link and shes on the front page! Or click here: Region V

Weekend Success

2010-10-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Richland College today for a tri-match with them and Southwestern Christian College. We won both in 3, and everyone got some court time. It feels real good to get some wins under our belt, especially after our tough conference losses. Hopefully this will carry over to our next match, an away game at Ranger on Tuesday. And eating at FreeBirds is always good.

Video!!! And an update

2010-10-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

So we moved into our second week of conference play. We had a tough 4 game loss at Cisco, which is always a tough place to play. Then we had NCTC at home, and started off great (which you'll see) and then lost in 4. In both cases our opponents played well, and we had our moments, but we are frustrated with letting good opportunities to win slip away. Hopefully we will take both matches tomorrow up in Richland.

Quick thoughts:
- Sapphire Reid had 23 kills on 40 swings last night and hit .375%. Great job.
- We got our flatscreen and new camera this week!! It makes a huge difference now that the girls can see game film with a clearer picture on a bigger screen. Also, I love having the game film on my laptop about 5 minutes after our match ends.
- I think you'll like this article about one of my former players: Athlete of the week
- Because everything is now digital, I'm going to start posting a lot more videos. Here is a rough cut of our game 1 win last night against NCTC. Game 1 vs. NCTC

Until next time!

First week of conference

2010-10-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

First off, as of this moment, our libero Lauren Ray is ranked #1 in the country in aces!!! She is also 16th in digs, while Sapphire Reid is top 20 in kills and Ayve Alvarado is 25th in blocks. Not too bad.

We started conference play on Tuesday with a great win at home against Vernon. It was a solid crowd for a 4 pm match and it included our President, Dr. Kappus (who was proudly wearing a Hill volleyball t-shirt). We played a very solid game, with Lauren Ray having 7 aces, and our 3 middles combining for 25 kills against only 5 errors.

We then went down to Temple on Thursday for our first conference road game. Temple is always a tough place to play. Coach Reese and their staff do a great job with the game day atmosphere and it work,s as I'm pretty sure they haven't lost a home conference match in a few years. We started out pretty well in game 1, and even had a lead at 17-15 I believe, but we failed to capitalize on some good looks and Temple won game 1.

Temple got out to a big lead in game 2 and when we traded side-outs until the end. Game 3 was similar to game 1 in that we were point for point for half the set, but then Temple pulled away. Give credit to them; they played a solid match. We're seeing what we have to do to become a winning team and hopefully we can flip the switch this week. Also, we had a great crowd in Temple. It was good to see players I used to coach as well as the parents of those players. I love having that extended family atmosphere of old players and families still seeing each other and catching up.

This week we have 4 matches. We travel to Cisco on Tuesday, which is always a tough place to play. Then we get NCTC at home on Thursday. Last year in the play-offs we beat NCTC twice, both in 5. I know they will be fired up to play us and it should be a great game. Then on Saturday we travel to Dallas to play against Richland and Southwestern Christian.

Hope you can make it out. We only have 4 more home games and student activities is doing a great job with giveaways and halftime entertainment. I just went and purchased 75 more t-shirts so we've got some stuff to give away at the games.

Finally, I want to give a huge shout out to Aaron Kalhoff and our women's basketball team who has been at every home match supporting us. It's been a huge lift for us and we will definitely return the favor when their season starts.

Conference is about to start!!

2010-09-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

So on Saturday we had a nice win against North Lake. Won in 3; got some playing time for most of the team but we also got to work on some specific aspects of our game that we needed to. We remain a work in progress, but the good thing about that is we will definitely be playing at our best when play-offs come around.

Since I'm calling this the midpoint of the season, lets take a look back at some of the high points:

1. The response of our team after the coaching change. I became head coach about 4 days before the girls reported for fall camp. I cannot tell you how great they were. They did nothing but respect the new coaching staff right away and get to work. This is both a tribute to the players and to Alaena (the previous head coach) for recruiting high character individuals.

2. We started the season going 3-1 at the Brookhaven tournament, and were 2 points away from going 4-0. A fantastic start to the season with such a young team.

3. Our first home game had a fantastic crowd and was a great win. Our associate AD thinks it was an attendance record. Hopefully we can break that soon.

4. The maturation of our team in front of everyone. We still have our low points (see @Navarro and game 3 vs. Blinn) but we also have our major improvements. We're starting to be able to adjust on the fly and limiting our hitting errors.

I'm really looking forward to starting conference tomorrow and seeing what we're made of. It should be a fun ride. Come out and watch us if you can!

Another update

2010-09-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

So another week has passed without communication from yourstruly. Let me get you up to speed.

On Saturday we had a tri-match with Trinity Valley and Eastfield. We split, beating Eastfield. On Tuesday we played our first true road game of the season at a much improved Navarro. We beat them at home 2 weeks ago but we could not beat them at their place. We had a phenomenal practice Wednesday and hosted Blinn last night. One of my old club players plays for them so it was good to compete aginst her. We had our moments, including a 22-18 lead in game 2, but Blinn took us out of our game and won in 3.

So what do we do? Our effort level is getting better and our individual skills are improving. Our main goal is learning that killer mentality. We've had a lot of opportunities this year to win close matches but we haven't closed it out a lot of times. If we can learn to do this we can be ok.

We've got a home match tomorrow against North Lake and then our first conference game Tuersday at 4 pm versus Vernon. Hopefully you can make it. Also, we had pretty good halftime entertainment last night. We froze some t-shirts after we soaked them and put them in rubber bands. 2 students had a race to see who could put them on the quickest. I think it worked out ok.

Until next time...

Finally, an update!

2010-09-17T05:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm falling a little behind. WE played 2 matches this week, both at home. We lost to Brookhaven in 4, where we did not give ourselves a chance to win. Panola beat us in 3 last night. They are a very good team and play at a level that I want to get to all the time.

I'll have some more stuff later today, but in the meantime here is a video of two of our freshmen, Mariah Everitt and Lauran James.

Mariah & Lauran

Toureny recap

2010-09-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

I hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend. We got back from Oklahoma at 9 pm Saturday night and I've been in the office yesterday and today watching film so we can identify what we have to work on.

Let me give you a quick recap. After we beat Tyler, we had a revenge game against Paris Saturday night. We won the first game and were right with them in game 2. Unfortunately, of their last 6 points, we had 5 hitting errors/missed serves. We lost 28-26. Tough to beat a good team when we make mistakes on our side of the net. Paris then kept the foot on the gas pedal and we couldn't respond and lost in 4.

We turned around and played at 8 am the next morning and lost to Redlands in 3. It was not our best match and it went against our goal of improving as a team and individuals. We can't improve if we don't work hard at the things we can control.

Our final match was against Seward County. We played very well and won game 1 25-19. Then we were up 24-21 in game 2 and our inexperience showed up as we made 3 hitting errors in a row. We lost games 2, 3 and 4 by 2 points each. Seward did a good job of putting pressure on us and we did not execute as well as we should have.

The good news is that this is all fixable in practice and with repetition. I have no doubt we will improve this week before our next big match at home versus Navarro on Thursday. If we work hard we can be so good, it just takes the extra effort we are all learning to give.

Final thoughts:
- Ardmore, Oklahoma was fantastic.
- Great breakfast at the hotel in El Reno. I had a bowl of bacon each morning.
- We'll have a video up this week of one the freshmen.

Great win!

2010-09-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

We beat Tyler in 3 this morning! After a rough start, winning 27-25, the team won the last 2 games 25-20, 25-22. We had some very solid moments, but also some times where we played a little hesitant and soft. We are only going to get better and will learn from this experience. We play tonight at 7 against Paris. Should be a good game.

Here's a picture of the team in front of our hotel:

Oklahoma!

2010-09-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

We just got into El Reno, Oklahoma and are settled for the night. I'm pretty sure the girls were happy we got here quickly so they could watch "Jersey Shore", but then again who wouldn't be?

Our first match is at 11 am tomorrow versus Tyler, followed by a rematch with Paris at 7. I'll let you know how it goes.

Great Win vs. Eastfield!

2010-09-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last night the Lady Rebels had their first home match against Eastfield College, which is located in Dallas. If the girls were nervous it did not show as they jumped out to a 15-5 lead in game 1 and never looked back. Game 2 was a little close for a while but they ran off a few points in the end. Game 3 was awesome as we jumped out to a 15-4 lead and coasted to a great win, 25-16, 25-21, 25-18. Some notes:

- Everybody got on the court and contributed in a positive way. This was a great experience as we head to our big tournament this weelend in El Reno.
- Our crowd was AMAZING!! Both basketball teams and a lot of baseball guys were there and they made a lot of noise. Our mens basketball coach thinks we might have set an attendance record, which I hope we break next week versus Navarro.
- Now its off to Oklahoma, where we play Tyler, Paris, Redlands and Seward. Hopefully we will continue to improve and the girls can gain more confidence heading into conference season.
- Finally, here's a link to the season preview for one of our conference rivals, Temple College. Temple Season Preview

Brookhaven Tourney Recap

2010-08-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

We had a very positive weekend up in Dallas on Friday and Saturday. We started the weekend off against Trinity Valley. They are a brand new program and between the two of us we had 3 sophomores. Total. The girls started off a little hesitant and passive. I think was a combination of it being their first real college match (for most of them) and that we didn't know what to expect from TVC. We lost the first game but the girls did a great job of adjusting their effort levels as well as following the adjustments the coaches made and we won our first match in 4 games!

Our second match on Friday was against Western Texas. This was another team that had a brand new coach and system and we only had a little time to prepare. This time the girls came out very focused and we won in 4. Want to give a big shout out to Brittany Berry, who came off the bench when one of our middles sprained her ankle and did a great job.

After a great dinner at Pei Wei and a good nights sleep, we played Paris Saturday morning. The girls were extremely prepared for this match. They followed the scouting report to the letter and we jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, did not close out Paris in game 3, and they beat us in 5. This is a learning experience for our young team and they will get better. We will also play some more "Choke or No Choke" in practice (the girls know exactly what drill this is).

Finally, we played the host team, Brookhaven. I was a little concerned with how we would respond after a tough loss and we started out very slow and lost game 1. Coach Loop and I decided to change the line up after game 1 to give us some more offensive firepower. Taylor Jones came in at our L2 spot and a fantastic job, hitting .500 in games 2 and 3, which we won. In game 4 it was tied 23-23 and we called a time-out. We put an emphasis on denying Brookhaven the line shot and told our pin hitters to hit deep down the line. Sure enough, we got a stuff block on their outside to give us match point, and then we got a transition kill down the line from Mariah Everitt to win the match!!

All in all it was a successful weekend. I'm sure the girls would be the first to admit that there are a lot of areas we can improve in, but our effort level was very solid. I can't wait to get back into the gym tomorrow and see us improve. Our first home match is Wednesday at 6 pm. Hope you can make it!

Here's a picture of our team outside our bus before our dinner at Chilis! Yes, the sun is in our eyes.

Press Release

2010-08-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

Below is the press release that was sent out today. I'm letting you read it here first so we can start getting the word out on our team!

"Lady Rebels Look to Their Fountain of Youth For Success"

The 2010 Hill College Lady Rebel volleyball team not only has 12 new members, but also a new head coach. First-year Head Coach Jeremiah Tiffin takes the reins after two seasons as the program’s assistant coach.

Since joining the Lady Rebels in 2008, Tiffin has helped the team attain a 49-25 record while being responsible for team defense, technical training and setters’ coach.

Despite winning those 49 games over the last two seasons, however, the team has learned that it is the final match that is hardest to win. In 2008 and 2009, the team has lost the Region V North Championship to Temple College.

Lauren Ray of Hewitt is the only returning letterman from the 2009 season. As the libero, she was First team All-Region and 22nd nationally in digs per set. The other sophomore on the team is Prairie View A&M University transfer Sapphire Reid, a 5’9 outside hitter from Copperas Cove. Other key players to watch will be 6’2 Middle Blocker Ayve Alvarado from Fort Worth and Outside Hitter Mariah Everitt from Splendora.

“I cannot remember the last time I was so excited to get to work with a group of players as I am with this team,” Tiffin said. “We’ve got sophomore leadership in two key positions in Sapphire Reid at outside and Lauren Ray at libero who will both push our freshmen to perform at their best every day.”

Conference favorite, Temple College, will provide the toughest conference test for the Lady Rebels. Temple has won conference three years in a row and is ranked #10 in the nation.

After finishing the 2009 season with a perfect record at home, the 2010 schedule will have several challenging home matches: the home opener Sept. 1 against Eastfield College, and Sept. 23 against the 2008 NJCAA National Champs Blinn College. Important conference matches will be: Oct. 7 versus NCTC, Oct. 19 versus Temple and Oct. 28 against Ranger (sophomore night).

“I am truly excited to see what this team can do,” said Tiffin. “We cannot control what might happen, but we look forward to what will happen.”

For the complete 2010 Hill College volleyball schedule, visit our website at http://www.hillcollege.edu/athletics/.

Sophomores video

2010-08-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of our two sophomores talking about the upcoming season and what they've experienced so far. Lauren Ray is our only returning player and gives us leadership from having been through our season schedule once already. Sapphire Reid is a transfer who will contribute for us right away.

Enjoy!

First scrimmage

2010-08-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hill had their first scrimmage this past Friday at Brookhaven College. They got a lot of playing experience under their belts, playing 6 intense matches against Brookhaven, Eastfield, Tyler, Paris and conference rivals North Central Texas.

The main goal of the day was to get our 11 freshmen introduced to the level of play they will see this year. We can replicate it a lot in practice, but it's a different feeling in a new gym and against unfamiliar players. I thought there were some positive improvements throughout the day and the girls should be prepared for our first real matches next weekend. Our serve receive was very consistent, especially from our three defensive specialists, known as Lauren, Lauren and Lauran. Yes all our DS's have the same name. We also have 3 Taylors, though one is spelt differently and one is our trainer. It makes practice interesting. I've even started using middle names when I need their attention.

We've got some great chances over the next week to improve all areas of our game. We just finished a great practice this morning where the girls saw themselves play on film, then made every goal in every drill I set for them. I'm super excited for what lies ahead!

Finally, I think the two highlights of the day were when both Sapphire Reid (OH) and Brittany Berry (MB) had 2 huge facials on great swings. Our bench loved each one and, especially on Berry's, it gave us a lot of momentum.

Our first home game is Wednesday September 1 against Eastfield at 6 pm. Hope you can come out and see us play!

Team Picture!

2010-08-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

We took our team pictures yesterday. I think they turned out well. Here's our main team one with more to come...
Back row (L-R): Assistant Coach Kelsey Loop, Mariah Everitt, Sapphire Reid, Taylor Jones, Ayve Alvarado, Taelor Higgins, Brittany Berry, Head Coach Jeremiah Tiffin, student trainer Taylor Chandler.
Middle Row: Allyson Reed, Kaila Grissett, Shelby Watson, Haley Goldwater
Bottom Row: Lauren Ray, Lauren Myers, Lauran James

Picture of gym

2010-08-19T09:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a picture of our home court, where we were undefeated last year!!

More pictures

2010-08-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here's another picture of our weight room:

Welcome to the 2010 Hill College Volleyball Season!!!

2010-08-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

To get you introduced to who we are, here's a picture of our weight room, which was just remodeled last year with brand new equipment by our Strength and Conditioning coach Aaron Baker. Our girls love it and it has helped our teams a lot in past years.