More reaction from TexAnn volleyball players

From senior middle blocker Shay Gracy:

The only things that I could say or think of after beating ACU was "Oh my gosh and heck yes". I was in so much shock just because I knew we could beat ACU, and then we so did! We played so well as a team. Everyone was talking. Our feet were moving. The intensity, and drive to never let the ball hit floor was amazing. It was simply AMAZING what we did in that game. Our defense was incredible. If our huge block didn't either send it right back in their face or at least get a touch on the ball to slow it down, our back row defense was there to back us up. ACU could not find a hole in our defense that night because there wasn't one to give. We were everywhere! It was such a great feeling to know that all of us could depend on each other and that is what you need to be a successful team. Our dependability on each other was never doubted.

The cheerleaders, plowboys, and the fans were a huge impact in that game as well. The atmosphere was AWESOME! Its so hard to describe what it felt like on the court. I want to thank everyone that was there for all the support, because it was sure felt out on the court. Yes, we did just beat ACU which was an outstanding way to open up conference, but it is just one game.

Saturday we played Angelo State University, my former school, and things didn't go the way we all wanted it to. We ended up falling to ASU in three games. It was a heart-breaker for me and my teammates as well. We just couldn't get a groove going, but then when we finally did start clicking it was way too late. The team that had just beaten ACU a couple of days earlier was just starting to come back, but lost the third and final set 26-24, and I still believe to this day that if a late call had not been reversed on us (on our own home court) we would have won that set. Then I think that we would have come away with another win under out belts, but thats not what happened. No, we didn't win, but we did learn some valuable lessons from this loss. One, just because we beat one team, does not mean that we can just walk over the next one. Great teams bounce back from their losses and I think we are a great team and we will bounce back.

We have had a great three days of practice getting ready for our matches this week. We have worked extremely hard. We are eager to play and ready to show every team what we really are about. This week we face Commerce and Texas Woman's. They are great teams, but we have been working so hard that there is no reason why we can't end this week with two wins. This team has a lot of heart.


From senior outside hitter Allison Hill:

Beating ACU was one of the greatest feelings that I have ever felt. All I could do for hours after the game was scream randomly. The emotions that came over me were so over whelming. All I could do was smile. We all worked so hard preparing for that game and our hard work paid off. We were more than ready before the game even started. During the game there was nothing ACU could do to shake us. We were solid. Offensively they couldn’t stop us. They tried everything but we weren’t budging. Defensively our block was like a brick wall and we were not letting anything hit the ground behind us. Words cannot describe the feelings we had on the court during the game. All of us were very loose throughout the entire game. After the win we were all on cloud nine and we all said the next one is going to be big also.

After the loss to ASU, we were all disappointed because we had fought so hard in the third game. After the game some of us were upset, but I was just mad. I wanted to beat ASU just as bad as ACU because we had lost to them last year and it was my hometown team. I know what we are capable of doing and we did not do it Saturday night.

This week we have been working extremely hard in every aspect of the game. We have been working to be both mentally and physically tough. We are ready for Commerce and TWU this week. We have learned from our mistakes and we are going to use that to our advantage this week. I am excited about our team this year. All of us give it 100% and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Volleyball players speak out following an emotional week

From senior middle blocker Emily Richardson:

The win over ACU was a phenomenal feeling, but short lived. The sense of accomplishment and hard work that contributed to the win left me feeling satisfied and on top of the world. I felt that we played as a team and our motions were fluid. We had a goal that was important to us, and together worked toward it. Being on the court felt great, and the teamwork really paid off with a win. Everyone did their job, and did it great.

After falling to Angelo, I have never felt more disappointed. By beating ACU and working so hard as a team, we proved to ourselves and others that we were capable of a high level of play. This is not the
team that we portrayed when playing Angelo State on Saturday. The most disappointment came out of the knowledge that we are capable of so much more, but did not bring it to the court on that specific day. Our level of play is something that we need to find consistency in.

The team has a great mental attitude this week. We feel that we do possess the skills to compete with every team in our conference and each and every match is important. We have worked very hard the past two days of practice and have put the loss to Angelo behind us, although it is still a reminder of what happens when we do not perform to our goals. Our strategy is to keep working hard each and every day of practice and to better ourselves. We have really been focusing on our defense, which is one of our strongest points this year. We have the attitude to work hard, compete, and go out and gather two great wins this week to establish some momentum in conference play. I believe that if we continue to practice and play hard we are capable of amazing things this season.

Scott Grantham Talks... Sept. 11

It’s funny to think that it is already the third game of the season. Camp always seems to last forever because it’s just nonstop with practice, weights, meetings, food, sleep… and do it all again the next day. Once school starts and everything gets going, the weeks fly by. We all have so much going on that we don’t have time to stop and think about things before it’s on to the game.

Overall I felt like the first game went pretty well. Although we weren’t at our best we showed a lot of good things and handled the ball real well. There are certainly things that we need to fix, but you can’t argue with a win. The game had a lot of penalties, which is somewhat normal for the first game of the year, but we have a lot of returners on offense so I don’t feel like that’s an excuse. It took awhile for us to catch a rhythm offensively, and then we started to play better. It makes my job a lot easier when you have great running backs like we do. Fortunately, we have had a lot of success running the ball and it has allowed us to control the football game. We are a versatile team because if a team tries to stop our running game, we can be just as successful in our passing attack. I think we showed both sides of that last year.

Having had success offensively last yea, offensively our expectations are pretty high. Now it’s all about execution. I have to remember that things won’t always go perfectly and there will be hiccups- especially in the beginning of the season. Still, we all expect nothing less than a great offensive year. Two games in, we have not played a great offensive game yet, but there have been flashes of brilliance (our running game, definitely). We have to keep improving and peak at the right time.

This weekend could be critical because we may end up dealing with some serious weather from Hurricane Ike. Although rain is on the forecast, we are not especially worried because we believe we have the better rushing attack. That is something you can never be too worried about because it’s something we cannot control. They have a good team just like everyone in the LSC. More than looking at the other team, our goal every week is just to play up to our own expectations. Looking at each week that way we have been pretty successful.

I want to say a couple things about Jimmy Fox, one of my favorite people on the team. He went down last weekend due to a leg injury. It’s has been a big blow to the offense and the entire team. Not only is he a great, great lineman, but he is a great leader and team captain. I know most people don’t appreciate the hard work of offensive lineman, and I wanted to emphasize that Jimmy is great at it and we’ll really miss him on the field. Michael Sampson has also been out due to an injury and I just want to finish by saying that they are great guys and we miss them out there and they will always be part of the Tarleton football family.