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Wanna Get Away: West uses Pearland trip to gel on, bond off the court

BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com

Published: Wednesday, September 5, 2012 1:08 PM CDT

The NIKE Pearland Volleyball Classic is the toughest event in the state.

While that provides plenty of opportunities for the 79 teams in the field to improve on the court, the 4.5-hour journey from Plano to Pearland may have offered Plano West a more valuable tool for success going forward.

"For us the tournament really serves as a bonding weekend," said Brittany Bridge, West head coach.

The off-the-court fun for the Lady Wolves included a viewing of "She's The Man" on the team bus, an annual tradition, and a stop at Buc-ee's.

"I know that might not seem like a big deal, but even little things like that are important," Bridge said. "The girls are away from their parents and with their teammates all weekend; it's a chance for them to learn about each other off the court so they can learn each other on the court."

Early results proved the latter portion of that equation to be effective.

West opened play last Thursday and advanced to the championship bracket after wins over Katy Taylor (25-18, 25-17) and St. Agnes (25-12, 25-11) as well as a loss to Dripping Springs (26-24, 27-25) in pool play.

"Dripping Springs is not really flashy, but they do a lot of things well" Bridge said. "They ran a lot through their middles, who weren't huge but were very effective, and they just matched up better and played better than us."

Also mixing in some study hall throughout the day, West began the championship bracket Friday by beating Rockwall (27-25, 25-22).

Senior Brooke Coleman, who had been the leading all-around contributor in West's first two tournaments, was again solid, but the Lady Wolves leaned more on the offensive-defensive combo of seniors Katie Stebbins and Shane Peters in this event with Stebbins patrolling the net and Peters controlling the back.

"Katie was definitely our most consistent hitter," Bridge said. "And Shane played awesome; she is really starting to take ownership of that back row."

With the win over Rockwall, West advanced to the Round of 16, where a rematch with Bishop Lynch awaited. The Lady Wolves had defeated the Lady Friars a week prior at the Texas Open, but lost the opening set, 28-26, Friday.

"We missed six serves in that first game; I mean, that's the game right there," Bridge said. "We served so well against Lovejoy (a five-set loss two and a half weeks prior) that they couldn't run a solid offense, so serving big against these big teams is key for us. We didn't do that against Bishop Lynch and lost a tough opener, which sort of deflates you going into Game 2 and I think you could see that we looked more frustrated."

The loss to Bishop Lynch (28-26, 25-22) bounced West from the championship bracket and led to another match with Dripping Springs to open play Saturday. The Lady Wolves again struggled with getting their wing players to block in the middle and a more lopsided score (25-23, 25-13) was the outcome.

Four and a half hours from home, that defeat provided the Lady Wolves a chance to play a team located only 20 minutes from their school in Plano East.

And for the second time in tournament season, West was victorious (27-25, 25-20).

"Of course you want to win matches like that," Bridge said, "because I think both coaches know it's a predecessor of what's to come in district."

West won't have to worry about facing Cy-Woods in district, which is a good thing considering the Lady Wolves finished their final match of the tournament with a loss (25-21, 25-14) to the well-rounded squad.

"Cy-Woods is really good," Bridge said. "They have a great setter, one of the best I've seen in the state, and some really good middles to go with strong outside hitters."

The loss to Cy-Woods completed a long Saturday as West's first and third matches started eight hours apart. The day still had plenty left to it though as most players didn't get home until just before midnight. The Lady Wolves, however, returned to Plano with the knowledge they had gone 4-4 and placed 14th in a 79-team event while also potentially planting the seeds for a fruitful district campaign.

"It was a valuable weekend for us," Bridge said. "I think the girls grew closer, I think we showed some flashes of what we want to be and I think mentally we've seen the areas that we need to get better at."

West continues non-district at 7 p.m. Friday on the road against Coppell.

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