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Good spot to be in: Lady Leopards record best finish at Tournament of Champions
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
While Lovejoy volleyball has wreaked havoc on Class 3A, becoming the first team to win four straight state titles, the Duncanville Tournament of Champions has been a different story.
A new classification (4A) brought about a new set of fortunes at the season-opening tournament as the Lady Leopards registered a program-best third place finish over the weekend in Duncanville.
"Traditionally, we've started slow," said Ryan Mitchell, Lovejoy head coach. "So to finish third is something you definitely have to put in perspective and be excited about."
Of the 15 players on the Lady Leopards' roster, nine of them (Hannah Atkison, Madi Pfaff, Brooke Ray, Mallorie Puckett, Bailey Martin, Shannon Connell, Ebony Nwanebu, Lucy Tweedie and Kacy Guajardo) are seniors.
"We have a ton of seniors, which means not only a lot of experience but a lot of experience winning big matches," Mitchell said. "You can't really put a numerical value on what that is worth to your team, but it definitely means a lot."
The seniors, with Nwanebu and Puckett on the outside, were in full effect in pool play with Lovejoy sweeping Euless Trinity, Clear Lake, Arlington and Kingwood Friday.
The victory over the Lady Colts (25-21, 25-9) had to be particularly satisfying.
"That was a big win because Arlington upset us here last year," Mitchell said. "The girls remembered that match and did a good job shutting down their two dynamic hitters."
With the Duncanville tournament switching formats this season, Lovejoy didn't enter into bracket play until Saturday. The Lady Leopards encountered more difficulty in the elimination rounds, but continued to break out the brooms with wins over Clear Creek (25-21, 25-15) and Keller (25-22, 25-22) to advance to the semifinals.
"We had never played Clear Creek before, but I have a lot of respect for that program," Mitchell said. "They played well, as did Keller, who I think was one of the surprises of the tournament. That team is consistent at all six positions."
The 6-0 start put Lovejoy into the semifinals against Coppell with the former winning the Class 3A State Championship last year and the latter capturing the Class 5A crown.
The Cowgirls asserted their dominance among the reigning champs (25-22, 25-19).
"That match looked exactly as I expected this early in the season," Mitchell said. "Coppell has more weapons and is better prepared to excel at this level at this point in the season whereas we are more geared toward getting better as the season goes on. We have been playing good about 40-50 percent of the time, which is where I felt we would be at this point, but that's not where we need to be to consistently beat elite teams just yet."
In addition to strong hitting on the outside, Mitchell was pleased with his middle blockers, particularly freshman Sarah Langs.
"I'm really excited about Sarah," he said. "I think she has a bright future."
But while the front line looked strong, Lovejoy has work to be done in the back row.
"We've been tinkering with some different formations and making some adjustments there," Mitchell said.
Connell was named Setter of the Tournament with Lovejoy operating out of the 5-1, but the Lady Leopards have also run some 6-2 with Connell and Atkison serving as the setters.
Lovejoy will get plenty more opportunities to fine tune its rotations, and against many of the same teams, Friday and Saturday at the Texas Open. The Lady Leopards, who won the event in 2010 and finished as runner-up to Coppell last season, open pool play at 9 a.m. Friday from Allen against Coronado. The team also has traditional power Amarillo, which just moved down to 4A, in its pool.
"That should be an interesting matchup," Mitchell said of the Golden Sandies. "But there are a lot of good teams at this tournament, so it will give us a chance to continue improving on defense and make better set selections."
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