Grapeland Volleyball 2016
Grapeland Volleyball Seeks to Spike Competition
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandiettes have a new head volleyball coach in Megan Simison who’s bringing a bit of an edge to the program. An alumnus of GHS, Coach Simison played volleyball for Tarleton State and explained her love for the game.
She said with a laugh, “I’ve always been tall, but I didn’t like basketball. I didn’t like people pushing on me. I like my team on one side and their team on the other and I just like slamming the ball down people’s throats! That’s probably not a good thing to put in print, but I like killing it. Blocking people and dominating …”
“I like the team aspect of it, as well,” she stressed. “I like everyone having their spot and the positions that they play.”
Coach Simison elaborated, “The teamwork starts out on the serve receive. Any ball that gets sent over the net, you have to have a good pass. You have to have a good set in order to get a good kill. That’s two or three people right there. You have to have people covering your block. You need defenders and you have to communicate well with each other. That’s one of the hardest things to do, but it has to be done to play effectively.”
As far as the year’s team, the coach said she has two returning players in senior Hailey Sheridan and sophomore Hannah Chipman. Senior Jakara Jackson is also expected to compete for a starting spot as the team moves into the heart of the schedule.
Changing gears somewhat, Simison was asked who she is most looking forward to playing in district competition. She remarked, “This is the first time for me to face a lot of these teams in this district. I think the girls are most excited about facing Latexo. They’re very close and they know a lot of the girls on the team. Personally, I’m most excited to play Iola. I’ve heard they’re very good, but I have high aspirations.”
Asked about the importance of winning, the coach paused for a moment and said, “I hate losing more than just about anything. I like to win. That being said, we’re also here to teach life lessons and develop well-rounded individuals. We are supposed to teach health and fitness, discipline and all the important life lessons to help the student athletes become better people. It’s also important, as much as I hate to say it, but we also have to teach the team how to lose graciously. It’s an important part of what we do as coaches. Don’t get me wrong, I do like to win. I’m a very competitive person.”
She was also asked if she thought this was the Sandiettes’ “year” or if this was a season to help in the development of the program’s future.
“I think it’s both. We set a goal for ourselves this year and every girl on the team has set their own individual goals. Now, we may go back and reassess those after a couple of games. If we meet that goal, however, I’ll call it a success. I wouldn’t say it’s a lofty goal. We can achieve it, but it’s going to be pretty tough. We’re only losing a couple of people next year and we have a great group of girls coming up so, I think our time is now but I think our time is also down the road as well.”
“Go hard or go home,” she said. “That’s our motto for the entire season.”
HOW I SEE IT: The Sandiettes are in an eight team district and have two perennial contenders to deal with in Centerville and Iola. Expect Iola and Centerville to finish first and second in District 22-2A. The battle for third and fourth will be intense as Normangee looks to return to the playoffs while North Zulch moves up from 1A where they reached last year’s state tournament.
The Sandiettes simply don’t have the depth this year. They have great athletes and will battle all season long but they will be building for the future. Having said that, however, look for the Grapeland Sandiettes, the Lovelady Lady Lions, the Normangee Lady Panthers and the North Zulch Lady Bulldogs to battle it out for the third and fourth playoff spots from District 22-2A.
It’s hard to pick against a team that went to state and only lost two key contributors. Even though they moved up in classification, look for the North Zulch Lady Bulldogs to take the number three seed out of District 22-2A.
Normangee loses a lot from last year’s team, but several of their underclassmen showed they can step in to fill the gaps. Expect the Lady Panthers to take the number four seed out of District 22-2A.
The silver lining to this cloud for the four Houston County teams (Grapeland, Kennard, Latexo and Lovelady) teams is Iola, Centerville, North Zulch and Normangee will beat up on each other throughout the season. If those teams slip up and lose a match or two they’re expected to win, you may see one of the Houston County teams slip into the postseason from the four hole.
