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Set up for success: Allen trying to get rhythm down before district
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@acnpapers.com
Passing and ball control are typically the calling cards for the Allen volleyball team.
But injuries and a youthful lineup has left the Lady Eagles still searching for consistency from the setter position with tournament season at an end.
"You know, we play really well at times," said Kelley Gregoriew, Allen head coach. "And for the most part our passing and ball control has been pretty good, but then [Tuesday night] it went out the window."
"Southlake has an amazing defense, but they aren't overpowering offensively or anything like that," Gregoriew said. "We just came out flat."
And setting has a lot to do with that.
While Allen has gotten consistent play from its top three hitters (seniors Tori Bates, Ashley Hooper and sophomore Camryn Freiberg), who runs the offense has been more of a challenge.
Senior Kristen Newton was scheduled to be Allen's starting setter, but she just got out of a cast to resume activities with the team.
"Kristen will have to earn her spot back," Gregoriew said. "But she is a veteran and having her out there would certainly bring some calmness to the team."
In Newton's absence, the trio of sophomores Hannah Walsh, Katie Ingle and junior Kim Bell have moved into setting roles.
"Like I said, we've been doing well at times," Gregoriew said. "But they are still trying to get a rhythm down with the hitters, so sometimes they don't get the sets in the right place or high enough, and sometimes we don't know the play we're running."
That wasn't as much of a problem over the weekend as Allen went 5-3 at the Pearland Volleyball Invitational, winning the first game in seven of its eight matches. The lone exception was a loss to Magnolia to wrap up pool play.
But even with that defeat, Allen advanced to the Championship bracket.
There, the Lady Eagles would encounter problems finishing matches.
Allen won the first set from Austin Westlake in the Round of 32, but proceeded to drop the next two, 25-22, 25-17. That was the Lady Eagles' same problem in the next match as they took Game 1 off Round Rock Stony Point, but lost the next two, 25-23, 27-25.
"The play was great in those two matches," Gregoriew said. "There were lots of strong rallies and they really were great matches, but we should have won both of them.
"We won both those first sets, so it's a mental thing."
Allen would correct said problems Saturday as the team completed tournament play with sweeps of Foster, Houston Bellaire and Round Rock. That gave the Lady Eagles a 5-3 record and 25th-place finish in the 84-team event. Gregoriew said lineup changes helped improve the team's play with Hooper, Bates and Freiberg once again serving as solid contributors.
The Lady Eagles will look for more contributions like that over the next two matches as Allen closes the non-district slate with home contests Friday against McKinney Boyd, the No. 5 Class 5A team in the state, and Tuesday versus Lovejoy, which is No. 1 in 3A.
Both matches are set to start at 6:30 p.m.
"Obviously we want to win," Gregoriew said, "but this is a young team, so we are also looking for ways to toughen them up mentally and get them to finish matches. We want to see consistent play and for the girls to come together."
The build is focused toward Sept. 9 when Allen opens district on the road against Plano Senior.
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