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Bulldogs looking to take next step
Published August 9, 2009
MARION — Marion head volleyball coach Bernice Voigt has found herself in an enviable position in her first year at the helm.
Just look at the roster. This fall, Voigt inherits a squad that returns seven letterwinners — including three All-District performers.
Senior setter Ashley Jacobsen, a District 27-3A first-team selection in 2008, will be back dishing out assists alongside fellow senior Shelby Thomas and junior Danielle Brown, as the trio tries to lead the Bulldogs back into the playoffs.
And as Voigt has witnessed thus far in practice, these girls don’t offer any lip service — they like to lead by example.
“It’s strange, they don’t talk a whole lot,” Voigt said. “You know how girls are — they talk all the time. But when I need them to talk, they don’t do it. But they’re leaders — they lead in lots of ways.”
And one of those ways is through showing confidence in their teammates. With so many girls returning, the upperclassmen are optimistic about their chances of bettering the team’s 19-13 record from a year ago, which included a third-place finish in district and a first-round playoff loss to Edna.
“I think (this season’s) going to be pretty good because we have seven players returning and only two seniors coming back who haven’t been on varsity before,” Thomas said.
Also returning to the varsity squad in 2009 will be senior Lauren Franke and juniors Deidra Reasor, Ashley Torres and Shay Caddell, with the roster rounded out by four first-timers — sophomore Diana Heinrich, junior Hailey Speer and seniors Lesley Surman and Katie Wahrmund.
Jacobsen said that this season’s goal is very simple — to get to the playoffs and take it one step further.
“We want to get past the first round,” she said. “I think we can, but we’ll have to work hard.”
As for Voigt, she’s not exactly a newcomer to the group. After coming to Marion from Floresville, Voigt acted as the freshman coach a year ago, being promoted after Robyn O’Bryan stepped down this summer.
And Voigt says that her extra year at MHS made all the difference during this past week’s two-a-day practices.
“It helps that I know these girls already instead of coming in brand new from some place else and taking over a varsity team,” Voigt said. “We’ve done a lot of conditioning, lots of different things, different drills — but they’ve all been receptive to it. That’s always good because sometimes you come in and they can fight you tooth and nail, but they’re willing to do what I ask.”
Thomas says that so far, the coach has been stressing one key to the players, which has been the focal point of more than one practice session.
“Passing,” she said. “Lots of passing.”
Even in the short amount of time since Monday, though, Voigt said she’s watched her squad shake off the rust and make some big strides. Still, it’s pretty apparent that all of the coaches and players have already gotten a touch of cabin fever, itching to start competing against some unfamiliar faces.
“They’ve been working hard and have come a long way since Monday,” Voigt said. “I’m excited and ready to see what we can do on the court against somebody else besides ourselves.”
After a few scrimmages Friday and Saturday in which Voigt said she was evaluating and trying to “iron out” her lineups, Marion’s season will begin at home Tuesday in a rare 12 p.m. contest against Comfort. After that, the Bulldogs play the role of road warriors, traveling to D’Hanis for a tournament, then playing matches at Gonzales and Nixon before heading to Devine for another tournament. After that, Marion’s next home match is slated for Aug. 25 at 6:15 p.m. against Natalia.
But Voigt knows her veteran team won’t be scared by a few measly road trips.
“We’ve got a strong core coming back, some good senior leadership and I’m excited about that,” Voigt said. “We’ve been having fun the last few days and we’ve worked hard.
“It’s going to be a good year.”
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