Friday, Aug. 29, 2008

Lady Panthers Confident Going Into Trinity Tourney

CHHS Volleyball

By John English

Contributing Writer

Colleyville Heritage volleyball coach Libby Pacheco was extremely confident heading into last week’s tournament in Granbury, and with just cause.

The Lady Panthers went 7-0 in the competition and left as tournament champions.

The team hit a pair of snags Tuesday, however, losing 3-1 to Arlington Lamar and 3-0 to Bishop Lynch.

Colleyville will compete in the Trinity tournament this weekend, and Pacheco said she thinks her team is continuing to build steam as it heads toward district play.

"The Trinity tournament is not quite as strong as the Duncanville tournament, but I think we’re definitely going to have to work," Pacheco said. "I think we can still have a good showing there. The girls now know what they can do, and they’re are expecting a lot from each other, and they are expecting a lot from themselves.

"That is a good thing, because they have been able to reach all of their expectations so far."

Pacheco said the Granbury tournament could not have gone any better and said she is starting to see her team open up more offensively.

"I think the best thing that happened for us is that we were finally able to understand each other as a team," Pacheco said. "We were able to gain some more confidence with some different offensive players, rather than just our big stud in Amanda Anderson. We were able to find different ways of producing more offense, which worked really well for us."

Pacheco said she attributes her confidence prior to the Granbury tournament to the steady improvement she has seen from her team throughout the season.

"I think because of the way the girls had been playing in the Duncanville tournament and performing in past matches, just watching them progress, I just knew it was going to be kind of natural for them to keep that winning attitude," Pacheco said. "And they did."

Pacheco said the performance at Granbury has done a lot for her players confidence as well.

"We are really pumped up," Pacheco said. "We are really excited about our possibilities, but the good thing is, I think we realize that we still have a lot of room to grow. I hoped that they would understand that, because we had to work for our last few wins in the Granbury tournament."

Pacheco said it is very comforting for her to know that the team is starting to spread it around as well.

"As a coach, it makes me feel better to know that we don’t have to just rely on one person," Pacheco said. "Amanda might have a bad day, or we might have a player who just has an off game, and if we can take care of things as a team, that gives me a lot of confidence."

Pacheco said Hilary Koch was an all-tournament selection and gave a really good effort at Granbury.

"She’s our senior outside hitter, and she had a great tournament," Pacheco said. "She has proven to be a very consistent player. She’s come a long way from last year."

Pacheco said she was also pleased with the play of libero Kelly Thomas.

In the course of the tournament season, the Lady Panthers have played and defeated Northwest and Trinity, and while Pacheco said it was good to pick up the two victories, playing two district opponents early on does have some drawbacks.

"It’s a good feeling, but it’s a little nerve-wracking," Pacheco said. "It’s hard to beat good teams two or three times. We know that we’re going to face them at least three times now.

"By the time we play them the second and third time, we’re both going to know each other very well. I don’t like playing district opponents at the very beginning of the season, but it does give us a little bit of an edge when we see them in district."