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Plainview volleyball having history season
From staff reports
The Weekly Post
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Published September 18, 2009
Last week, Plainview High's volleyball team boldly went to a place no Bear team has been before — ranked in the statewide top 10, as the Bears debuted at No. 7 in Class 4A.
That's not the only first for the 2009 Bear team. Earlier this year, Plainview earned its first-ever win over perennial power Geraldine.
"I hope we get lots more firsts," said coach Skyla Gray. "The main one, though, is I hope we can get to Pelham (for the Elite Eight championship tournament).
"Even if we go and get beat the first match, at least we can say we made it there. But of course, to win would be even better."
Before that milestone approaches, there are some more firsts that Plainview can attempt to master.
First county championship. First regional tournament victory. First area tournament title.
That last one could prove a little tough, with perennial state power and No. 1-ranked Guntersville hosting the tournament.
"I definitely think we have what it takes (to beat Guntersville)," said Courtney Martin. "They're a great team but I feel like we're as good as they are. We hung with them for the first two games earlier."
"We'll have to be to our potential to beat Guntersville," Anna Graham said. "But everybody on this team is loaded with potential. Sometimes we play at the top of our game, especially when we're playing good teams.
"This year, we're better at not playing down to the level of lesser teams but we've still got to improve on that."
On Sept. 1, the Wildcats earned a 25-17, 25-18, 25-8 victory over the Bears. In the same trimatch, Plainview took a 25-21, 25-21 win over Cherokee County.
"Last year, Cherokee County stomped us," recalled Taylor Slay, the only senior on the team. "We feel like we've made a lot of progress since then."
Progress has been made every year since Gray became coach in 2006.
"I think we won five matches that year," she said. "I was ready to quit after just one season. The girls talked more about losing than they did winning. Getting that out of their heads was a big part of it."
Last year, the Bears finished with an 18-18 record. After Tuesday's 25-18, 25-9, 25-4 triumph over Sardis, Plainview sports an 18-5 record.
"We've got more experience and play harder than last year," Graham said. "And when we make a mistake or lose, we don't get down on ourselves like we have in the past."
Not that this year's losses have been anything to be ashamed of.
The five losses have come to Guntersville, Deshler (No. 3 in 4A), Sand Rock (No. 5 in 2A), Gaston (No. 3 and defending state champion in 1A), and Geraldine (No. 4 in 2A).
"We can't afford to get down after a loss," Slay said. "Either way you respond is contagious and we would rather react well."
Graham noted that, "It fires us up more to lose. We play twice as hard the next match."
They reacted well Tuesday, taking the win from Sardis following Saturday's tournament loss to Deshler.
"We're even doing a lot better in tournaments," Slay said. "Up until last year, we never made it out of pool play. Now we're finishing high in tournaments."
In Tuesday's Sardis match, Graham had 12 kills, 11 blocks, six digs, and an ace. Tia Trotter added 36 digs and an ace. Montana Clark tallied 19 digs and nine kills. Slay had 15 digs, two blocks, and a kill. Kaci Kirk dished out 16 assists, to go with five aces and four digs. Martin added 10 assists, five digs, and three aces.
In last Saturday's prestigious Guntersville Tournament, the Bears finished third after going 3-0 in pool play. In the pool, Plainview beat DAR 23-25, 28-26, 15-13, then defeated Ashville 25-17, 25-14. The Bears then beat Deshler 25-17, 25-18.
In bracket play, Deshler took a 25-17, 25-18 victory over Plainview.
In the tournament, Trotter had 52 digs, two aces, and a kill. Clark finished with 40 kills, 30 digs, three blocks, and six aces. Graham tallied 34 kills, 14 blocks, 12 dinks, 10 digs, and an assist. Martin contributed 47 assists, 10 digs, and two aces.
Kirk finished with 46 assists, 15 digs, four blocks, one kill, and one ace. Slay had 33 digs, 13 kills, three aces, and a dink. Taylor Pack totaled 17 digs and a block.
Thursday, Plainview took a 25-18, 25-13, 25-17 victory over Ider.
Trotter finished with 40 digs. Graham had 13 kills, 3 blocks, and three digs. Clark tallied 24 digs, nine kills, and a block.
Kirk had 10 assists and five digs. Martin had eight assists and four digs.
For Ider, Lora Corbin had 0 kills and Julie Corbin dealt 15 assists.
Plainview won a trimatch last Tuesday, beating DAR 25-20, 17-25, 25-16, 13-25, 15-11, then taking down Scottsboro 25-18, 25-9.
For the day, Trotter totaled 53 digs. Martin had nine digs and 33 assists. Kirk finished with 10 digs, 26 assists, and two blocks.
Pack had seven kills and four blocks. Slay tallied 10 kills and 28 digs.
Graham had 31 kills, 12 blocks, and eight digs.
Clark contributed 17 kills, seven blocks, and 28 digs. Taylor Dickerson had seven digs.
The match against DAR improved the Bears' Class 4A, Area 14 record to 2-1, with the only loss coming to Guntersville.
"It's good to be making a name for Plainview volleyball," Martin said.
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