Working with a younger team that has not played together very much can be exhilarating one moment and frustrating the next. As a coach, you’re never quite sure which you are going to get on any given night.
About 24
hours after defeating defending Division I state champion Chandler Basha in its
own gym, Xavier Prep returned to the floor on Wednesday night (Sept. 23) for
its home opener against Scottsdale Chaparral. The Gators looked strong in
spots, not so much in others.
It was
enough to create a bit of fog on the shield mask of Xavier coach Lamar-Renee
Bryant.
Xavier took
a 25-20 win in the first game, fell 25-22 in the second, finally warmed up in
the third for a 25-18 win, and in the fourth game looked to be headed for a
Game 5 before managing to avoid that with a 25-20 triumph to take the match 3-1.
“That was
hard to watch,’’ Bryant said.
“We hoped we
could stay confident, coming from yesterday (Basha), but with a young team,
this is what you get.’’
On Thursday
(Sept. 24), Xavier will play its third match in as many nights when it plays
host to Premier Region opponent Chandler High in the Activity Center. Match
time is 6 p.m., preceded by the frosh-sophomore match at 4 and the junior
varsity at 5.
Safety
precautions will resume after the Chaparral match in which the Xavier staff did
a good job of distancing chairs for players in the bench area and disinfecting
the volleyballs with a spray and towel after each point. Teams did not switch
sides as in a normal match, and there was no physical contact between the
athletes, who were required to wear masks when not playing. Spectators were
limited to two people per Xavier player, set up before the match in a
“will-call’’ format.
Asked about
individual efforts from her players, Bryant pointed to sophomore Maddie
MacDonald and junior Tiffany Tellez, who helped keep the Gators together with
their play off the bench.
In the
decisive Game 4, Chaparral held a 17-13 lead and had a 20-19 advantage before
Xavier scored six straight points to seal the contest.
No comments:
Post a Comment