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Glass Half Full: Lady Panthers break even, improve standing in final tourney
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Being the state's largest high school volleyball tournament, the NIKE Pearland Volleyball Classic is nothing short of a marathon.
As one of the 79 teams who enjoyed the lengthy stay in Pearland, Plano East can attest to such after eight matches in three days and a 16th-place finish in its final tournament of the season.
"We had a great start and a great second day, so I know the potential is there for us," said Steven Jones, East head coach. "I was a little disappointed in our third-day performance though, and we have to be stronger and better than that."
Entering the mix seeded No. 23 overall and second in its pool, East ripped off wins over Baytown Sterling (25-8, 25-7), Clear Brook (25-10, 25-22) and Incarnate Word (25-12, 25-23) to open pool play Thursday; the last victory coming over an Incarnate Word squad that was seeded No. 18.
Things worked even more in the Lady Panthers' favor Friday morning when they avenged a loss from earlier in the year by dispatching of Amarillo (20-25, 25-21, 25-16).
"At the Duncanville Tournament, there were certain calls or distractions against Amarillo that we felt got the better of us," Jones said, "so it was good to see that two and a half weeks later against the same team, we were able to stay focused."
A crack at a 5-0 start was curtailed later that afternoon though when Lovejoy, the No. 1 Class 4A team in the state, dealt East its first setback of the tournament (25-22, 25-21).
Despite a competitive effort, things didn't get any better for the Lady Panthers on Saturday as they dropped their final three matches en route to the 16th-place finish.
"By the time we got to that third day," Jones said, "I could tell the grind began to take a toll on our players. We haven't been to a tournament where we had to play three days straight like that."
A straight-set loss to Flower Mound (25-17, 25-19) preceded a similar defeat against Plano West (27-25, 25-20), the second time the cross-town rivals have clashed during non-district and the second time the Lady Wolves have enjoyed the upper hand.
"On that day, Plano West played better than us," Jones said. "It was close, but after seeing what they have and what we have, we can only go up from here. I'd rather be beat by a team during preseason than district when it matters most."
The Lady Panthers closed the weekend with a loss to Hebron (25-20, 23-25, 25-16) in a match that typified the long-winded rigors of the tournament schedule more than any.
"At that point in time, both teams were just ready to go home," Jones said. "The Hebron coach and I were joking about whether we should just play rock, paper, scissors instead, because it was so late in the day."
Breaking even at 4-4, the Lady Panthers received consistency from senior Gabby Litwin, plus juniors McKenzie Shea and Lily Porsa; the latter improving on a performance one week prior at the Texas Open that saw the outside hitter-defensive specialist not leave the floor. East also enjoyed the efforts of junior Brianna Blagowsky, who missed the Texas Open due to injury and complemented Litwin as the team's defensive anchor.
"It looks like Brianna has turned the corner on becoming an exceptional DS," Jones said. "She was digging some amazing balls and had such a good tournament; she's started getting some looks from the college coaches who were there."
With their final tournament in the bag, the dog days on non-district now take form with two and a half weeks remaining until East's 10-5A opener against Allen.
The Lady Panthers lost Tuesday to top-ranked Class 5A outfit Southlake Carroll (25-18, 25-23, 25-18) and will next host Carrollton Ranchview at 7 p.m. Friday.
"We're trying to reset our expectations," Jones said. "You don't want to burn these girls out before district starts, so there's the challenge of keeping them motivated and to the point where they don't lose their intensity at the time they should be peaking."
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